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Inspired by my grandma’s ‘zahra meqlieh (fried cauliflower) with garlic tahini sauce’, this no-recipe recipe honors the humble cauliflower and turns it to a meaty main dish, with extra fiber from spelt & quinoa.

Ingredients

Cauliflower
Beetroot
Onions
Herbs (anything on hand)
Tahini
Lemon
Garlic
Yogurt (optional)
Spelt
Quinoa
Cumin
Coriander
Black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
Water

Method
Heat up the oven to 200 °C.

Meanwhile, chop one cauliflower head and about 3-5 beetroots depending on size into small chunks. Peel and quarter 4-6 yellow or red onions. Place all the vegetables into a roasting tin, and sprinkle them with salt and the freshly ground coriander, cumin, and black pepper. Drizzle some olive oil to enable you to massage all the spices thoroughly into the vegetables.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until they get some visible charr.

Place about 200 grams of quinoa and spelt in water, sprinkle a bit of a salt, and boil until thoroughly cooked.

To make the sauce, combine any herbs you have on hand in a food processor, with about 3 table spoons of tahini, a tablespoon of yogurt, a splash of water, a small clove of garlic, the juice of half a lemon, and a bit of salt. I used fresh dill, coriander, and a bit of parsley, but even carrot greens would work! Blitz everything together and taste – it should be a bit zingy and not too runny.