These Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls with Romesco Sauce are a super flavorful, simple plant based meal. The romesco sauce is incredibly delicious and the leftovers are great on toast, eggs, salads, and anything your heart desires! I love serving this over sautéed kale and brown rice. SO good!
Creating plant based meals is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Don’t get me wrong, I do love meat, chicken, seafood, pork, and all of the above, but I really do LOVE a good plant based meal. I try to incorporate a lot of plant based protein into my diet, because it’s delicious, cost effective, and you can get SO creative with it. Some of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life have been plant based. There’s something about all the textures of grains, beans, sauces, and veggies that makes me swoon.
What totally MAKES this bowl is the romesco. OMG. I have no words for it. But I’m gonna talk your ear off about it anyway.
It’s traditionally a sauce made from tomatoes, almonds, garlic, spices, and olive oil, but I added some roasted red peppers, FIRE ROASTED tomatoes for extra flavor, parsley for some freshness, smoked paprika to play up that smoky tomato flavor, and balsamic vinegar for a little zip. Sounds so simple but it’s SO gosh darn good.
I’m having a moment with it.
I’ve been adding a scoop of it to almost all of my meals for the past two weeks. It’s amazing on salads, on eggs, on avocado toast (YES), and really anything. Even just by the spoonful. Or as a dip for veggies! Endless possibilities, truly.
I wanted these bowls to be super customizable, so you can use whatever you have on hand for the base! I loved these with brown rice and sautéed kale, but they would be equally as amazing with quinoa, cauliflower rice, lentils, sautéed spinach, or arugula!
Seriously use whatever you have on hand. The romesco is the star here.
I definitely don’t mean to minimize the rest of the ingredients, cause they’re super delicious too! I roasted the chickpeas and cauliflower at a high temp with olive oil, paprika, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder, so they’re super flavorful, and they get a little crispy!
These bowls are also PERFECT for meal prep. Prep your rice/quinoa, sautéed greens, cauliflower and chickpeas, and romesco sauce, and store them in containers. Then just assemble when you’re ready, or mix it all together and pack them for work lunches!
They’re also so good with avocado on top, but I probably didn’t have to tell you that. 😉
Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls with Romesco Sauce
These Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls with Romesco Sauce are a super flavorful, simple plant based meal. The romesco sauce is incredibly delicious and the leftovers are great on toast, eggs, salads, and anything your heart desires! I love serving this over sautéed kale and brown rice. SO good!
Ingredients
For the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas
- 1 (15.5 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
For the romesco sauce
- 1 cup roasted almonds
- 1/2 cup canned fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup packed roasted red peppers (from a jar)
- 2 cloves garlic
- small handful flat leaf parsley
- 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For serving
- cooked brown rice, quinoa, or lentils
- sautéed kale or spinach, or whatever greens you like!
- lemon wedges
- chopped flat leaf parsley
- olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
roasted cauliflower and chickpeas
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Make sure your cauliflower and chickpeas are super dry (I dry them off as much as I can with paper towels, so they get crispy in the oven!), and add them to the baking sheet. Add the olive oil, paprika, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and toss to coat. Roast for 40-45 minutes, tossing occasionally, until golden and crispy on the edges.
romesco sauce
Place almonds, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, garlic, parsley, balsamic vinegar, paprika, smoked paprika, salt, and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth (it will always be a little chunky because of the almonds) and taste to season with salt and pepper. Leftovers keep really well for a week or so in the fridge!
to serve
Serve the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas over a bed of brown rice and sautéed kale. Top with a generous scoop of romesco, chopped parsley, a drizzle of olive oil, and a lemon wedge. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*My favorite way to enjoy this bowl is with brown rice and garlic sautéed kale, but you can use quinoa, cauliflower rice, lentils, or whatever grain you love! Sautéed spinach, swiss chard, or fresh arugula would be wonderful here too.
*The leftover romesco is amazing on salads, eggs, toast, and sandwiches. It will keep in the fridge for a week or so!
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