Roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa salad with jalapeño-lime dressing
It’s time for guest post number 2! This time we have Julia from The Roasted Root, who’s one of my favourite bloggy friends. This girl is completely lovely, and super talented too – gorgeous photos, gorgeous recipes, and she’s pretty much hilarious. This salad looks incredible (my favourite type of salad – no lettuce), and jalapeño-lime dressing? Wowww. I hope I’m digging into things this amazing in Mexico… I don’t cook with cauliflower very often so I’ll definitely have to give this a go!
Well hello there, Amuse Your Bouche-ers! I’m Julia from The Roasted Root – my little corner of the internet where I share mostly vegetable-based recipes and gluten-free treats. Becca asked me to join you while she and her brand spanking new husband are on their honey moon! I so very enthusiastically accepted, so today I’m stringing along a roasted cauliflower and chickpea salad, and I have a feeling you’re going to la-la-loooove it!
Because I adore me some veggies, Becca’s recipes are always right up my alley and her beautiful photos always make my mouth water. Amuse Your Bouche was one of the first food blogs I came across when I began blogging and I have been hooked on Becca ever since. Like a straight up magnet. I love Becca’s approach to food and her wit always tickles me pink. If Becca and I lived in the same neighborhood, I’d be banging on her door every day around dinner time.
Thiiiiiis salad…it’s incredible! I couldn’t believe how wonderfully it turned out. Chock full of roasted cauliflower, roasted chickpeas, all wrapped up in quinoa with a delicious herb-infused jalapeño-lime dressing, this salad is packed with flavor and texture.
If you’re into cauliflower and chickpeas and have never tried one or both of them roasted, I highly suggest you do! The roasting process deepens the flavor and adds a nice crispy texture. This salad is perfect as a side dish for entertaining guests or as an entrée, and it can also be served both warm or cold.
Many thanks for having me here, and huge congratulations to Becca on her marriage! Hope to see you again soon, AYB!
Roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa salad with jalapeño-lime dressing
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower chopped into florets
- 1 14- ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 3 tablespoons to 4 olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder divided
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin divided
- 1.5 cups uncooked quinoa
- ½ cup unsalted roasted almonds
- Salt and Pepper
For the Dressing:
- 2 jalapeños seeded and finely chopped
- Zest of 2 limes
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- ½ cup loosely packed fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup loosely packed fresh mint chopped
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt to taste
Instructions
To Roast the Cauliflower and Chickpeas:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Chop the head of cauliflower into florets and spread the florets out on a baking sheet.
- Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the cauliflower, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, salt and pepper. Use your hands to massage the oil/spices into the florets so that everything is coated.
- Lay the chickpeas out on a separate baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, salt and pepper. Again, use your hands to coat everything in oil/spices.
- Place both baking sheets in the oven to roast for about 20 minutes, or until both the cauliflower and chickpeas are tender, crispy, and golden-brown. Stir half-way through the bake time.
To Prepare the Quinoa:
- While the cauliflower and chickpeas are roasting, cook the quinoa.
- Rinse and strain the quinoa well. Add it to a medium-sized pot with 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside until ready to use.
To Prepare the Jalapeño- Lime Dressing:
- In a bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.
To Prepare the Salad:
- Add the cooked quinoa, roasted cauliflower, and chickpeas to a large serving bowl.
- Pour all of the dressing over the ingredients and toss together.
- Serve warm or cold with roasted almonds!
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Want another new way to cook with chickpeas? Try pâté! Walnut and roasted garlic chickpea pâté:
This turned out really good, but I’m really confused about why the cauliflower and chickpeas are to be prepared and roasted separately, as they have the same amount of the same spices and are cooked for the same amount of time. I prepped them together and cooked them on the same pan and they turned out fine. Throwing this out there to save others time & cleanup efforts.
Sounds good, glad you enjoyed it! :)
I had to try this dressing, but I’m not a big fan of quinoa or chickpeas. I think it’s the texture. I used kidney beans instead (I really doubt that changed the flavor too much) and I love the pop of color it added! The dressing is ahhhmazing!!! I’m going to use it on everything now.
This was super easy and crazy delicious, thanks for the recipe
This salad looks sooo delicious!
Thanks so much for having me on your lovely site, Becca! I hope you had the most wonderful honeymoon and ate all the burritos to your heart’s delight!! xoxo
this looks so good. but that dressing sounds phenomenal!
The dressing definitely ties the whole thing together! It’s so fresh and zesty. The herbs also give it such a wonderful flavor!
Containing everything I love to eat – what’s not to love? I’m using cauliflower more and more these days in a more interesting way; thanks for this recipe, Julia, will be pinning and using as well!
So glad you like the recipe, Lynn! It’s so easy to make, and so full of health benefits and flavor. A real slam dunk! :D
I’m not a lover of cauliflower but this recipe sounds delicious. Going to make it and share with my Vegan daughter as there is nothing in the recipe, as far as I can see, that is not suitable for vegans. Many thanks.
You got it, Deirdre! I hope your daughter enjoys it! xoxo
This looks tasty – I have never thought of roasting cauliflower! Thanks Becca for arranging for us to have great recipes, even when you are away! Hope you are having an amazing honeymoon. :)
This salad sounds amazing! Definitely a perfect, flavorful dish to make in advance and eat happily as a work lunch. :)
That’s exactly how most of this salad got consumed – during work lunches! I even shared with my vegan co-workers! :)