Roasted Carrot and Cauliflower Quinoa bowl with Sauteed Spinach and Lemon Tahini Dressing

2020 has proven itself to be a year in which I enjoy combining old favorites with new twists. Sure, lemon tahini dressing may not be a “new” twist for some people, it is for me. January 2020 was the first time I tried making lemon tahini dressing at home and was pleased with the outcome (thanks to Cooking Light’s recipe, included below). Since then, I’ve been using lemon tahini dressing to invigorate favorite recipes with new energy. In this edition, I added the dressing to a warm quinoa bowl filled with sautéed spinach and curry roasted carrots and cauliflower. Delicious! This is a great dish to make for dinner and use the leftovers as lunches throughout the week. It makes about 3 servings.

• Yellow or white onion

• Carrots

• Cauliflower

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• Garlic

• Lemon juice

• Quinoa

• Spinach

• Golden Raisins

• Lemon Juice

• Curry powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Dice half of a head of cauliflower into florets and place on a sheet pan. Peel and slice carrots into matchsticks - enough to fill the sheet pan without the vegetables touching. If you overcrowd the pan the veggies will steam instead of roasting. Drizzle cauliflower and carrots with a healthy swirl of olive oil, 3-4 shakes of curry powder and 8 twists of salt. Massage well with your hands to evenly coat the vegetables and then spread out on the sheet pan so the vegetables aren’t touching. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until vegetables are starting to brown on the edges. 

2. Prepare lemon tahini dressing (I enjoy Cooking Light’s recipe): combine 2 tablespoons lemon juice (equivalent to juice from ½ a lemon), 2 tablespoons tahini, 2 tablespoons water, 1.5 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 7 twists salt and 10 twists pepper in a jar. Shake well to combine. 

3. While vegetables are roasting, combine 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water in a pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa is light and fluffy. Remove from heat and mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

4. While quinoa is cooking, finely slice a small onion into thin half moons. Turn a saucepan to medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute onions until translucent and tender. Reduce heat to medium low and add 3 cups of spinach. Saute until just wilted, then fold into quinoa with ½ cup golden raisins. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and ¾ of cooked cauliflower and carrots to quinoa and mix well. Plate and top with additional carrots and cauliflower and lemon tahini dressing to taste. Serve warm.