Secrets of Great Second Meals

The Roasted Vegetable Spread

Roasted Cauliflower and Tahini Crostini

I’m not ashamed to say that tahini is a major crutch around these parts. You can literally mix it with water alone to make a delicious salad dressing. If you want to be super fancy, add some garlic and lemon. Tahini also has near-magical binding powers and can be used to translate last night’s delicious roasted veggies into a wonderful spread for snacking or sandwiching. When it comes to tahini, I suspect no chef in the States uses more of it than Philadelphia’s Michael Solomonov, and he recommends a brand called Soom, which I order online and find to be delicious in this dip, on top of yogurt, or even by the spoonful.

Extra ingredient: roasted cauliflower (or other roasted vegetables)

Time: 10 minutes (10 minutes active)

Makes 4 to 6 appetizer servings (2½ cups)

1 garlic clove, grated

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste

¼ cup tahini

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

Pinch of ground cumin

2 cups roasted or steamed cauliflower, finely chopped

Aleppo pepper to taste

Crostini or crackers, to serve

Olive slivers, to garnish

Fennel fronds, arugula leaves, and/or Italian parsley leaves, to garnish

1. In a large bowl, whisk the garlic and the lemon juice. Let stand for 10 minutes at least to let the garlic infuse and soften a bit of its funkiness.

2. Whisk the tahini, sea salt, and cumin into the lemon juice mixture. The tahini may seize up a bit; just keep whisking, and then gradually dribble in ¼ cup ice water. Keep dribbling and whisking: the tahini sauce should become smooth and thickly creamy. If it is still stiff, whisk in a bit more ice water.

3. Fold the cauliflower into the tahini mixture. Taste and add Aleppo pepper and more salt or lemon juice if desired. Serve on crostini topped with slivered olives and a sprinkle of fennel fronds, arugula, or chopped parsley.

VARIATIONS

Use the tahini sauce on a sandwich. Skip the roasted cauliflower and use the tahini sauce as a dressing for chicken, fish, lamb, or vegetables in a pita sandwich.
Change the vegetable. You can mix many other cooked vegetables into the tahini sauce here: try grated beets, chopped roasted sweet potatoes, mashed roasted winter squash, or chopped roasted eggplant, which tastes great with some chopped mint in the mix.
Make it smooth. You can also puree all the ingredients in a blender or a food processor.
Make some hummus. Blend 1½ cups (about 1 can) of cooked, drained chickpeas or other beans with the tahini sauce for a savory dip. Use some cooking liquid from the legumes to thin the dip if desired.