It's safe to say that I've been pretty much obsessed with the Cajun spice lately. I put it on almost everything. On salads, roasted veggies, on avocado toast, in dressings, dips, and even pasta. It's that good! If you haven't tried it before, you're seriously mising out. After you're done reading this post go buy a cajun spice mix and make this Cajun Roasted Cauliflower. It's spicy, it's savory, it's bursting with flavor and amazing with tahini dressing.
Cajun spice is a mix of paprika, onion, garlic, marjoram, thyme, fennel seeds, cumin, and cayenne. I'm telling you, you'll love it! And if one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat more salad, this one will become your best friend because it's so flavorful you won't believe it's actually good for you!
Speaking of New Year!s resolutions, what's yours? I decided to ditch the ''My New Year's resolution is...'' this year and instead, I'm setting goals I want to achieve next year in all areas fo my life. I haven't done it yet but I want to sit down and make a list of things I want to achieve in 2017 in both personal life and career. Then I'll work backward from those and set smaller and smaller goals until I reach daily tasks — that's the plan, anyway. Or is that the same thing as New Year's resolution? The thing is, setting goals or making New Year's resolutions is great but unless you start doing something about it right away, you'll most likely never get to your goal. If you want to lose 10 kg, you won't lose it tomorrow but if you choose to eat at that organic salad bar you go past every day instead of Mc'Donald's you're a step closer to your goal. If I want to create 100 recipes in 2017, I have to go and develop one and then the next one and the next one, etc.
There's this saying I really like that goes something like this, "If you had started doing something a month ago, you'd have been one month better at it by now.". It's so true! What if you'd started learning French a year ago? You'd be fluent by now! Just start. In one week, you'll be one week closer to your goal! I actually bought this 2017 planner called The Dear Diary which I'm really excited about because it helps you set goals for each month & week and, well, also because I've always been a sucker for all things stationary.
2016 has been a rollercoaster and even though it was a year of crazy, I'm still grateful for all its ups & downs and all it's taught me. As this is the last post of 2016 I hope you have a great end of this year and I wish you all the best for 2017. Make it the best year yet!
📖 Recipe
Cajun Roasted Cauliflower Salad
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 2-3 1x
- Category: Main Dish
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower, hard stem removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 ½ tsp cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- sea salt and pepper
- 4 cups shredded kale (5-6 leaves)
- 1 cup cooked red rice (optional, I happened to have some leftover on hand)
- 1-2 carrots, grated
- 1 beet, grated (red, yellow, or pink, I chose yellow)
- ¾ cucumber, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 2-3 radishes, sliced (optional)
Tahini dressing:
- 2 tbsp tahini
- juice of 1 lemon
- sea salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C (392F).
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put the chopped cauliflower on it.
- Mix the coconut oil with the maple syrup and pour over the cauliflower.* Mix to evenly coat.
- Sprinkle with the cajun seasoning and dried thyme and mix again to coat everything.
- Roast for 30 minutes tossing once about halfway through.
- While that's roasting, prepare all your veggies and the dressing. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients except the water in a small bowl. Then start adding water 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.
- Mix all your veggies in a big bowl and add some of the dressing if desired. Divide into smaller bowls, top with the cauliflower and drizzle with the dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
*When melting the coconut oil, add the maple syrup too to warm it up because if you melt it and then add the maple syrup from the fridge, it'll harden again and won't be pourable.
Allison M. Webb
I can't wait to try this! I love using cauliflower as a healthy substitute for so many things. This looks yummy!
thehealthfulideas
Me too! If it didn't make such a mess when you're cutting it, I'd use it even more haha
candy
I love cauliflower and my neighbor really eats tons of cauliflower. We both will be trying this new recipes salad for us and our families.
thehealthfulideas
Yay! Hope you both love it! :)
Dawn
This looks and sounds amazing! I too love cauliflower and Cajun spice so I will definitely give this a try :)
thehealthfulideas
Thanks so much! :)
Tiffany
well this looks amaIng! i just recently starting eating cauliflower
http://www.arrowsandwe.com
thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Tiffany! :)
Ayanna
I am not doing resolutions either, but setting goals as well. And this salad looks delicious! I have never roasted cauliflower myself, but will definitely have to start in 2017.
thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Ayanna! You definitely have to try this! :)
Clarissa
This looks awesome! And healthy, which is good for me because I have the super original and completely unheard of "lose weight" resolution! lol - to be fair, I have a wedding coming up (yay!) so I've got a good reason ;)
-Clarissa @ The View From Here
thehealthfulideas
Congratulations girl!!<3 You can do it, one meal at a time! ;)
Leighann
Roasted veggies are soooo good. My husband actually doesn't mind eating them! Will have to try the cajun seasoning for sure!
thehealthfulideas
I literally can't get enough of roasted veggies during the winter months. You'll both love it! :)
Sarah | Well and Full
That's a great saying - you'd be a month better at something if you started doing it a month ago!! Such a good reminder that there's no time to start something like the present :)
thehealthfulideas
Right? So true :) Let's say no to procrastination!
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons
This is gorgeous! (And all about all things stationery also!)
thehealthfulideas
Thanks so much! :)
Jazz
Omg this looks and sounds so tasty!
thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Jazz! :)
thalia
after christmas and new years, this is definitely what i need. and roasted cauliflower is always so incredibly delicious, but i've never made like a cajun version before. love the colour! Xx
thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Thalia! You have to try it, it's really delicious<3 and happy new year!
Miri
This looks straight up delicious !
thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Miri! :)
Morgan @ Host the Toast
As a huge fan of all things spicy and all things cauliflower-y, all I can say is yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Thanks Morgan! :)
Abbey
This is on the menu for this week now. Looks fab! Can I just ask if the beet is raw or vac packed?
Hope that's not a silly question.
x
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Thanks, Abbey! It's a raw beet :)
Lucy
oh YUM! I'm requesting this for dinner from hubby tomorrow night :)
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Yay hope you love it! :)
Rabbit Hor
1 Beet grated? Is this beetroot?
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Yes, I meant a beetroot. It's the yellow stuff in the salad.
marissa
I've eaten this the last two nights and I loved it! I used a few cloves of garlic because I love garlic and I rarely have a chance to use raw garlic. I will probably try using the dressing in different ways because it is really so delicious and so easy :)
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Aw yay! I'm so happy you liked it! I love using garlic whenever I can too. I should really make this again sometime, it's one of my favorites. :)
Anonymous
Was the beetroot cooked when you shred it ?:)
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
No it was raw :) You can cook it but then you have to chop it because it'll be too soft to use a mandoline for it
Syl
One lemon is way too sour for me, I'd say start with half and add more to taste
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
Yeah, you can totally adjust that to your liking! :)
Tamara
I just made this...sort of, I went with what I had in the fridge. I made the cauliflower and dressing as directed, but substituted the salad part. I used a mix of romaine and spinach and threw in red/green pepper, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion and celery. This is really good. I will be eating this often. Thank you for your creativity.
Veronika | thehealthfulideas
I'm so glad you liked the recipe! :) Thank you for the feedback!