Caramelized Cauliflower With Tahini {GF, Paleo, Vegan, Low Cal}

Golden roasted Caramelized Cauliflower with Tahini & fried onions. A delicious gluten free, Paleo, Vegan, low calorie dish that makes a tasty side or appetizer! Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan, Low Calorie

Sometimes the best food inspiration comes from your favorite restaurant. If you’re been reading for awhile, then you know my all-time favorite local restaurant is Pita Jungle. Their menu is a plethora of Mediterranean style dishes that are mix of fresh, heat and spice.

One of the many things I love about their dishes is how they’re made with simple, everyday ingredients that are so incredibly delicious. When I go there, the problem becomes deciding which dish I want. Not a bad problem to have, right?

A few months ago, I ventured outside of my usual three menu suspects (because you can never have too much of a good thing) and ordered a dish I’ve never ordered, caramelized cauliflower with onions and tahini sauce. Something about the name jumped out at me or maybe it’s just that I’m a lover of cauliflower and tahini.

It definitely wasn’t the onions because that’s one food I could live without any day. When I got the dish, let’s just say this appetizer dish became my main dish. The dark, roasted cauliflower florets dipped into that creamy tahini sauce with it’s bit of tang was enough to convince me these two were a pairing meant to be. From that moment on, I was on a mission to make my own version at home. Until I forgot about it.

It wasn’t until Sesame King replied to my spicy black bean hummus without tahini tweet asking if I’d  create a recipe with tahini that I remembered how much I wanted to re-create this fantastic recipe. What’s even more awesome is they had so many great flavors to pick from I was able to put my own twist the recipe using their garlic flavored tahini.

The result? Well, I might be biased but I’d argue mine’s a smidgen better than my favorite local restaurant chain. So get your dipping fingers ready because this appetizer is one you won’t want to share!

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Caramelized Cauliflower With Tahini

Golden roasted Caramelized Cauliflower with Tahini & fried onions. A delicious gluten free, Paleo, Vegan, low calorie dish that makes a tasty side or appetizer! Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan, Low Calorie

Author Megan

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 3 servings

Calories 192 kcal

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Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower cleaned, leaves removed & cut into florets (about 4 cups)
• 1 small white onion halved & sliced thinly (about 2 cups)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 cup tahini
• 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 425 F. Place cauliflower in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

2. Add salt and pepper to cauliflower. Bake cauliflower 15 minutes at 425 F then turn on the broiler on high to cook another 5 minutes. Remove cauliflower from oven and place aside.

3. While cauliflower is cooking, heat a medium pan to medium high. Add extra virgin olive oil to the pan. 

4. Once the oil is hot, add the onions to the pan. Cook the onions until tender, stirring constantly.

5. The onions can burn fast so watch carefully and remove when tender 8-10 minutes otherwise they will burn. 

6. Place onions on a paper towel and add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

7. To the pan you used to cook the onions, turn the heat to low and add minced garlic. You should have enough oil left in the pan otherwise add a tiny bit more.

8. After a minute, turn heat off add lemon juice, paprika, 1 tbsp parsley, tahini and whisk in 12 tbsp warm water to thin (I added 12 tbsp to mine).

9. Be sure to continuously whisk the sauce as you're adding the water or it may burn.

10. Place cauliflower in a bowl, add onions to the top then spoon tahini over it (I like to reserve about half the sauce for dipping). Sprinkle remaining cauliflower on top and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

1 serving is approximately 1 large cup.

Course Appetizer, Side

Keyword cauliflower, gluten free, low calorie, roasted, tahini, vegan

Nutrition facts per serving (1serving)

Calories 192 kcal

Fat 10 g

Saturated Fat 1 g

Cholesterol 0 mg

Sodium 69 mg

Potassium 812 mg

Carbohydrates 21 g

Fiber 5 g

Sugar 5 g

Protein 7 g

Vitamin A 19.4 %

Vitamin C 125.7 %

Calcium 7.5 %

Iron 12.1 %

Custom Meal Plans

Work with Megan to develop a custom macro or standard meal plan to reach your goals.

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What I Used For The Recipe

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.