Charred Cabbage and Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce

“Charred Cabbage and Cauliflower” may be one of my “surprise” recipes of this year. It is an easy preparation, and these vegetables take on a great, savory flavor when roasted in the oven. Plus, the Tahini Sauce is unique and adds a nutty, lemony element to the dish. I made this recipe to serve to friends as I needed a “no fuss” and quick vegetable recipe. Everyone found that it was hard to start eating the cabbage and cauliflower. Imagine that! In the recipe, cauliflower florets and small cabbage wedges are simply layered on a baking sheet, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then the vegetables are roasted on high heat until they are tender. The tips char, but that adds to the character of the dish. In addition to taste, this is a good way to get some of those healthy, cruciferous vegetables into meals. The Tahini Sauce is made using tahini which is ground sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are very nutritious, too, full of antioxidents.

Smitten Kitchen food blog

The inspiration for this recipe comes from the Smitten Kitchen food blog site (hosted by WordPress!). I’m not sure how many links I clicked on during one sleepless night at the computer, but I eventually landed on this recipe. Looks like I had just found yet another idea for cooking cauliflower and cabbage. Smitten Kitchen is the 16-year food blog and brainchild of Deb Perelman of the East Village of New York City. In addition to blogging, Deb has authored three cookbooks, hosts a podcast and issues a weekly newsletter. A busy lady, I’d say. This is one of the food blogs which I used as a model when I was getting started at blogging about 10 years ago. Deb’s recipes are creative, with great photos and they always come out successfully.

Can I use Deb Perelman’s recipes on my own blog? In her FAQ, Perelman says that as long as you give her blog, Smitten Kitchen, credit for the recipe idea and adapt the recipe instructions, notes, tips, photos, etc. to your own words, then you may use her recipes. Perelman gives the copyright guidance which says that an ingredient list cannot be copyrighted but recipe instructions, directions, expressions, photos and authored books are copyrighted. In other words, reprinting a recipe verbatim is a copyright violation. However, the recipe list cannot be copyrighted. And, rephrasing the recipe instructions, etc — while giving the original blogger credit as a common courtesy– is not a violation of copyright laws. Of course, you need to come up with your own photos and recipe scripe. I would comment that Perelman is very generous. Interesting information for any food blogger! (See Reference)

Recipe

Back to the recipe, which is adapted from Smitten Kitchen. It contains just a few simple ingredients — cabbage, cauliflower, olive oil, salt and pepper. The sauce contains tahini, olive oil, lemon and garlic. The most challenging part of this recipe is finding the ingredient, tahini. Tahnini is simply ground sesame seeds. It is a main ingredient in most hummus recipes. We discovered that tahnini is located in the peanut butter isle in many large chain grocery stores. I don’t use alot of tahini, so I store this sesame paste in the refrigerator.

To make the recipe, cut the cauliflower into bite size florets. Cut the cabbage into wedges which are about 1″ thick and then into 2″ segments. I used the entire cauliflower — I love this vegetable — but only half of the cabbage. (A head of cabbage goes a long way!) Place these pieces in a single layer on a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and generously drizzle on olive oil. (However, try not to get carried away with the oil.)

I baked these on the bottom oven rack at 375 degrees in my convection oven. No need to turn the vegetables over part way through the cooking process; just let them roast. (No convection oven? Turn the heat up to 400 degrees.) After 30 – 45 minutes, the vegetables were tender and the tips starting to char. Time to take them out of the oven. Since ovens cook differently, I gave a time range.

Tahini Sauce

The Tahini Sauce is simple, too. Tahini is one of the main ingredients in hummus and I associate it with Mediterranean cuisine. This recipe is a different type of application for the sesame seed paste. I was somewhat skeptical about adding this sauce to my vegetables, so I served in on the side rather than mixing into the dish. I was pleasantly surprised. The sesame paste has a nutty flavor. The lemon juice give a citric “pop” to the dish. Garlic just makes everything taste better.

To make the sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Thin the sauce with water, if needed. The tahini separates out into oil and solids while it sits on the shelf, so stir the jar of tahini up well before pouring it into the bowl. (I used a chopstick for this task.)

As the years have flown by, I definately have become much more adventurous in my food tastes. Now, I can eat “Charred Cabbage and Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce” without blinking an eye. I hope you will enjoy these vegetables and the recipe! And, I can’t wait to try Tahini Sauce with some other dishes.

Reference:

https://smittenkitchen.com/about/faq/