It’s a salad that tastes like a shawarma, it’s a cauliflower shawarma salad. The cauliflower is rubbed in a shawarma spice mix and roasted and tossed together with shawarma essentials – Israeli salad, a tahini sauce and some pearled couscous. Ok I digress, couscous is not an essential, a pita or laffa is – but pearled couscous goes better. There are also some chickpeas thrown in. If you like shawarma, you’ll love this salad version. And while I may tend to call salads a meal, where they are more passable as a side, this shawarma salad is a solid and satisfying meal.
Cauliflower Shawarma Salad
It's a hearty salad that has that deliciously distinct shawarma taste. The Green Tahini Sauce is utterly divine and will go with just about any salad or as a dip for chips or veggies.
Ingredients
Shawarma Spiced Cauliflower
- 1 head of Cauliflower wash and chopped into small pieces
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp olive oil
Salad
- 1/2 C pearled (Israeli) couscous
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed well
- 1/2 large cucumber diced
- 1 large tomato diced
- 1 small purple onion diced
Green Tahini Sauce
- 1 avocado peeled and pitted
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1/4 C tahini paste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 C fresh parsley
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 pickled jalapeno
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C and spray a baking tray with a non-stick spray.
- Add all the shawarma spiced cauliflower ingredients (except the cauliflower) to a medium mixing bowl. Combine well.
- Add in the cauliflower pieces and toss to coat. Make sure each piece is coated in the spice rub.
- Layer the cauliflower in an even layer on the baking tray.
- Bake for 25 minutes, turning halfway, until the cauliflower is soft and starting to crisp.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Cook the pearled couscous according to package instructions and set aside.
- Combine the diced cucumber, tomato and onion in a bowl.
- Add all the ingredients for the green tahini sauce and blend until smooth. For a thinner dressing, add more water.
- To assemble add the cooked couscous, chickpeas and salad to a large platter. Top with the shawarma spiced cauliflower and drizzle with the green tahini dressing.
