Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, and Thyme

I am a well-known lover of cauliflower, but even I was surprised by how fervently I fell in love with this recipe.  I tried it kind of on a whim, just to mix things up from my normal grill foil packet cauliflower (which is bomb, and I’ve made literally every night for like four months).

But I took one bite and said out loud (in a room by myself), “OH MY WORD THIS IS AMAZING!”  My cats looked at me weird.  Whatever, they’re totally missing out.

The flavor combo of this roasted cauliflower is crazy and intense.  It’s such a perfect blend of sweet, savory, crunchy, and earthy.  I would never have thought to pair really ANY of these together, but the result is absolutely sublime.

And you know what’s bonus??  It’s super easy too.  There’s very little hands-on time, and it can all come together in under half an hour—basically the time it takes for the cauliflower to roast.  It makes a perfect side dish alongside simple things like grilled or baked chicken, and I’ve even had it as a lighter vegetarian dinner as well.

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Preheat oven to 400 F.  I put foil down on my baking sheet for easy cleanup.  If you’re making the full recipe, I strongly recommend using two baking sheets, because you don’t want to crowd your cauliflower.  Place the cauliflower florets on the baking sheet(s) and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Sprinkle with the Za’atar spice, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and fork-tender.  Check the a couple times during cooking and give them a good stir.  (Side note, I’ve also done my normal grilled cauliflower in a foil packet and just added the Za’atar, and it turned out awesome too).

If your dates are nice and soft, you can skip this step, but I typically prefer to re-hydrate my dates slightly as they’re a bit dry and hard.  To do this, heat up a bit of water in a bowl and then drop the dates in there.  Leave for several minutes to soften.

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While the cauliflower is baking, heat a small pan on low-medium heat.  Toast the pine nuts in the dry pan for 1-2 minutes (keep a close eye or they’ll burn!), then add the other teaspoon of olive oil, the chopped dates, and thyme.  Stir these together for an additional minute, then remove from heat.

When your cauliflower is done, remove from the oven and taste a piece to see if it needs more salt or Za’atar (I typically need to add a little more of each).

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Then mix together with the pine nut/date/thyme mixture in a serving bowl.

Serve this warm and right away, but I can vouch that it makes awesome leftovers too.

Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, and Thyme

Note, I typically halve this recipe to make for myself (and I eat most of it in one sitting because I love it, but technically it should be like 3 servings).  I’ve also done my normal grilled cauliflower in a foil packet and just added the Za’atar (vs. roasting in the oven), and it turned out awesome too.

Original recipe from Downshiftology