Vegan Fall Bowl with Tahini Miso Sauce

Vegan Fall Bowl with Tahini Miso Sauce

Last week, after eating copious amounts of brownies, two things happened. First my body said, hey the holidays are coming, I could probably use some more vegetables. Then I watched Cowspiracy, a documentary on the harmful affects of eating meat and dairy, and realized W-O-W the world needs us to eat more vegetables. So I set out to create some vegan recipes.

I’ve made this tahini miso sauce before. It’s from Sara Forte’s cookbook The Sprouted Kitchen Spoon and Bowl and is one of those recipes that I’ve gone back to again and again. I love that it uses ingredients I already have in my pantry and it’s balance of sweet, savory, acid and just a tiny spice. Each one of the ingredients seems to be magically balanced with the other such that you could serve it to somebody who doesn’t like tahini, or miso, or spicy food and they’ll gobble it up regardless.

The sauce can be thinned with water to create something more pourable. Don’t worry about diluting the flavor, adding water to tahini sauces is common as they can be thick and strong. It can also be mixed with olive oil and additional lemon to create a salad dressing as I did below. I think of this dressing as a good vegan replacement for Caesar dressing, it packs a punch but does so by means other than anchovy and parmesan.

Side note, for the food-fact dorks: I also recently acquired a new cookbook on Israeli cooking, my newest obsession, which talks about Tahina (tahini is the Americanized spelling) as the great equalizer in Kosher cooking. When serving meat and following Kosher rules, dairy isn’t allowed in the same dish or even on the same table. Tahini steps into the place of dairy in Israeli cooking. I found this to be so true and couldn’t stop thinking about it as I shoveled this meal into my face. Dairy is certainly not missed.

Vegan Fall Bowl with Tahini Miso Sauce Recipe:

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Author: Nicola

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro or other grain (quinoa, freekeh, bulgur, etc)
• 2 heads cauliflower, florets
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
• 1 bunch kale, stems removed and sliced into ribbons
• handful of sliced almonds or other nut

• ½ cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons miso
• 2 tablespoons honey (or other sweetener, I use agave)
• 2 teaspoons sriracha
• juice of one large orange or ⅓ cup of orange juice
• juice of one lemon

• olive oil and juice of additional lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Meanwhile, cook grains in salted water according to package directions.
2. Toss sweet potatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil and lay out on the baking sheet. Toss, cauliflower, remaining olive oil and salt, and turmeric, and place on another baking sheet. Roast both sheets for 20 minutes until the cauliflower is browned. Remove the tray of cauliflower and set aside. Flip sweet potatoes and then roast for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce. Divide the sauce, reserving half to be served on the side or with another meal. Toss the remaining with an additional lemon and olive oil to create the dressing.
4. To compile the bowls, toss cauliflower, sweet potatoes, kale, and almonds with your dressing until well coated. Add farro and serve with additional sauce on the side.