Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Bowl

Actually this recipe has more components than listed – I just didn’t want the title to get out of hand. This meal, which Derek and I just enjoyed for the first time, is filling and really flavorful in spite of being seasoned only with salt and pepper. This is one of my cutting phase concoctions, based on some recipe ideas from the cookbook Appetite for Reduction, created to meet our contest prep macronutrient requirements. The quantity of roasted cauliflower stands in nicely for rice!

Sorry for the terrible picture – I blame Derek:

Ingredients:

Makes 2 big bowls

• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 block extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted (instructions below)
• 2 Tbsp slivered raw almonds, toasted
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, roasted (instructions below)
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Chop the cauliflower into very small pieces, about 1/4 inch around or so. Cover a baking pan with a fine layer of salt – not a ton – and spread the cauliflower out on it. Roast in the oven along with the red bell pepper, flipping with a spatula about every 10 minutes for 30 minutes or so. You’ll need to keep an eye on it. The red pepper should be turned over midway through this period and taken out when it’s skin is blackened and blistered. Let it cool off a bit, then peel off the skin and remove the stem and seeds and chop finely.

Meanwhile: Toast the almonds by tossing them about in a medium hot pan until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Saute the tofu cubes until lightly golden. I don’t cook with oil and instead add a pinch of salt to the pan and carefully flip with a metal spatula to keep it from sticking. Add the chickpeas and warm up a bit in the pan.

I like to make a nice presentation out of these austere (but in this case truly delicious) meals by serving them in big ceramic bowls in layers: tofu, then chickpeas, then cauliflower, then red pepper and a sprinkling of the almonds finished with some black pepper.