This Roasted Cauliflower Salad combines golden brown cauliflower florets with creamy cannellini beans, chewy farro, and nutty toasted pine nuts. Great warm or cold, a lemony tahini dressing takes this healthy vegetarian side dish to the next level.
Welcome to my Ted Talk on Salads
So, what makes a salad a salad anyway?
I've got some friends in the Midwest, and let me tell you, there are some real liberal definitions out there. While my inner Nutrition Lady might be a bit too uptight to qualify something with chopped-up candy bars as a salad, I will let you in on a secret... not all salads need to have greens.
And listen, a good massaged kale salad will always be my forever salad, and this Mediterranean Chickpea and Cucumber Salad is a masterpiece of contrasts, but some of my favorite salads, like this Spicy Mung Bean Salad, don't have any greens at all.
But if salads without greens aren't salady enough for you, well, I guess that means more for the rest of us!
This Roasted Cauliflower Salad combines golden brown roasted cauliflower florets with creamy cannellini beans, chewy farro, and toasted pine nuts. It can be eaten warm or cold, and the dreamy lemony tahini sauce takes it from simple to sublime, balanced with a sprinkling of salty capers.
My favorite thing about this salad (aside from how delicious it is, obviously) is how the beans and grains team up to make it a really satisfying meal (I love this about our Buffalo Butter Bean Salad as well—it's so satisfying!). I think it would make a great potluck offering, the perfect addition to a holiday table, and I know for a fact that it makes great packed lunches—tuck an extra wedge of lemon alongside to freshen it up at lunch.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad, ILYSM 🫶
Let's make Roasted Cauliflower Salad together!
Step 1: roast & prep
Roasting the cauliflower and cooking the farro are by far the most time-consuming parts of this recipe. But both of them are perfect ingredients for batch cooking if you want to prepare in advance.
You're going to want to roast the cauliflower until they're golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside—about 20-30 minutes. At the same time, you can cook your farro (or whatever grain you're using—kamut, spelt, or wheat berries work great as well) according to the package instructions.
Step 2: toast your pinenuts
Is there a better smell than toasting pine nuts? I think not. Just make sure you keep a close eye on them because they can go from perfectly toasted to burnt in a flash!
Step 3: make your dressing
While everything's cooling down, whisk together your dressing. This is easy and peasy—just whisk whisk whisk until smooth. Season with a bit of salt and pep, and you're good to go.
Step 4: mix it up!
Alrighty, you know what to do! Get everything in a big ol' bowl and give it a good mix. Then add a drizzle of dressing and you are done like dinner.
Tips and substitutions:
Mix up the beans. Feel free to mix up the beans according to what you've got on hand. Any small to medium-sized white bean, such as cannellini beans, will work great. I think lentils would also work really well!
Mix up the grains. This recipe calls for farro, but there are so many options that would work well here. Kamut, spelt, wheatberries, or even Israeli couscous would be good substitutes.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with white beans and creamy tahini dressing
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 medium cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 cup cooked farro or kamut, spelt, or wheatberries (from ½ cup uncooked)
- 14 oz can cannellini beans rinsed and drained
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves roughly chopped
- 3 Tablespoons capers
For the dressing
- ⅓ cup tahini paste
- 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ¼ cup water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss the cauliflower florets with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.1 medium cauliflower, salt and pepper, 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Roast the cauliflower, stirring when halfway through, until the florets are golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside, about 30 minutes.
- If you don't have pre-cooked farro (or other chewy whole grain) on hand, this is a good time to cook it. Bring a medium pot of water to the boil, salt it well, and add the uncooked farro. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the grains are tender but still chewy. Drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside. Cook some extra to keep in the freezer so you'll have some handy for next time!1 cup cooked farro
- While the cauliflower is roasting, toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until nutty smelling and golden - about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.¼ cup pine nuts
- In a large bowl combine the roasted cauliflower, farro, cannellini beans, toasted pine nuts, capers, and parsley.14 oz can cannellini beans, ½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, 3 Tablespoons capers
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and lemon zest. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup water (or more if you like a looser dressing) and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.⅓ cup tahini paste, 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, ¼ cup water, salt and freshly ground black pepper
- To serve, divide the salad into bowls and drizzle with tahini dressing. Sprinkle with extra capers and parsley.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- To make ahead simply leave the dressing off until you're about to serve.
- Packed lunches can be pre-dressed, but a wedge of lemon tucked along side is nice to freshen it up.
- If you're cooking farro or another whole grain for this dish, cook two or three times as much as you need and freeze the leftovers in 1 cup portions for future meals.
Nutrition
Molly says
What a great looking recipe!! I'm a newbie food blogger, and I stumbled upon your blog looking for healthy inspiration....so happy I did! Love your writing style too!
Katie Trant says
Thanks Molly! Welcome to The Muffin Myth, and to the wonderful world of food blogging!
Deena Kakaya says
Your recipe looks so clean and warm Katie, lovely x
Eileen says
This is such a great idea! You have to love a beautiful salad -- even in the depths of winter. Or perhaps especially because it's the depths of winter!
Katie Trant says
It's a really lovely salad, I hope you give it a try. And yes, especially in the depths of winter!
Linda @ Veganosity says
Sounds like the perfect Sunday!!! Elf is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. And, A Charlie Brown Christmas is something we all need to watch, just because of the message. 🙂
This salad looks amazing. Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorites, and combined with the other ingredients in this salad just makes it even better.
Katie Trant says
Isn't Elf the best? I'm going to watch it at least once more before the holidays are over!
Alissa says
I'm always saying I need to bring something healthy to my holiday gatherings, but I'm thinking a green salad would get me some dirty looks. This, however, looks completely delicious and I could see my friends and family gobbling it up. I'll definitely keep this in mind for those holiday dinners. 🙂
Katie Trant says
It's totally delicious! That roasted cauliflower with tahini dressing... and I know you're a tahini girl! I hope you give it a try!