Lentil Bowls with Cauliflower and Tahini

The best buddha bowls with cauliflower and tahini sauce! These are so delicious for a make ahead lunch, and the pickled onions and tahini sauce can be made in advance for a quick throw-together meal. These bowls are vegetarian, gluten free, and can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.

When it comes to "healthy" food, I'm careful to not use words like "cheat, guilt, good, bad," and so on. I think that thought pattern surrounding food can be so damaging, but also I agree that in terms of physical health there are foods that are better for our bodies than others, if we're talking lentils vs cheetos.

I love lentils for the cheap + toothsome + nutrition-packed punch they pack in a bowl like this. They are SO flavorful (because salt) and honestly I could eat a bowl of them on their own.

We made this into a fun bowl with bright pink pickled onions, a shortcut gremolata, and toasty roasty cauliflower, one of my favorite substitutes for meat because when roasted it has just the best texture.

The idea for this came from an Instagram account Jay follows but he couldn't show me a recipe or the actual account or image (?), so he described a picture to me and this is what I came up with. So, if you made some amazing cauliflower bowls and this feels like a copycat, tell me! And I'll credit you if it was your original image.

Buddha Bowls Step-By-Step

To make these, I like to work on the lentils first, then roast the cauliflower and tomatoes while the lentils simmer.

While the lentils and cauliflower cook, I make any toppings I'm using. Pickled red onions, tahini sauce, and the gremolata in this case, but fresh herbs, lemon wedges, other cheeses, olives, or anything else you can imagine would be wonderful.

Lentils with Onions

For the lentils, dice some onion and mince some garlic.

• 

• 

Saute the onion and garlic in a small pan with a lid with some olive oil over medium heat for about three minutes, then add the lentils and veggie stock to the pot. Cover the lid and simmer the lentils for 30-40 minutes (or whatever the package says) just until they're tender but not mushy.

Check them at the lowest time your package suggests. If there is some liquid left in the pot, let the lentils finish simmering uncovered to evaporate a bit of the stock. Add a few pinches of salt each time you check the lentils until they are very flavorful.

Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes

Meanwhile, roast the cauliflower and tomatoes. I do this on two separate pans when I make a lot, but the cook temperature and time are the same! 425F for 25 minutes. I drizzle the cauliflower and tomatoes with oil and sprinkle them with salt, then sprinkle zaatar all over the cauliflower.

When they're roasty and tender, they're done!

Now, while the lentils and veggies are working, make anything you'd like to put on top of the bowls.

I went all out with toppings, but you can grab just a few things to prep or chop and the bowls will be just as delicious. I love pickled red onions: microwave some water, vinegar, salt, and sugar together, then drop some sliced red onion in the mixture. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so. These keep wonderfully in the fridge.

The tahini sauce is made with plain tahini, water, salt, sugar, and minced garlic. EASY. Whisk it together, adjust the flavors, and add more water if you need to thin it out at all. I sometimes make tahini sauce with lemon juice, so if you like more tang on top of your bowls definitely go that route. (here's my favorite recipe for lemon tahini sauce)

Easy Gremolata

I wanted something green on the bowls, and gremolata is usually finely chopped herbs, garlic, citrus zest, salt, and sometimes some nuts. Here I just used pesto, lemon zest, and extra garlic and the result was SO good. This could definitely be skipped or subbed with fresh herbs or sliced green onions.

Lentil Bowl Assembly

So now! The lentils are tender but not mushy. Add MORE salt if you aren't sure. These should be good enough that you'd eat them on their own.

Then we have everything else for our bowls. Roasted cauliflower and tomatoes, pickled red onions, pesto gremolata, crumbled feta cheese, and tahini sauce.

I mean. I did this entire meal in under an hour, but you could DEFINITELY make the components to this in advance for a meal prep buddha bowl situation. Taking care of future you, look at you go!

Build bowls however you like, go excessive on the toppings, and lunch or dinner is READY.

I love these for a thousand reasons, but a big one here is that the components are great as leftovers or make-ahead. If there was one thing that wasn't perfect I'd say it was the cauliflower, but you could make EVERYTHING except for the cauliflower and tomatoes on the weekend, then roast veggies and have this great dinner on a weeknight. The deep flavors of zaatar are so good with the tahini and tangy tomatoes.

PS zaatar is a middle eastern spice blend that we use all the time on roasted veggies and chicken, but if you don't have any just...skip it. Seriously, there is plenty of flavor without going out of your way for something you don't use a ton. OR OR OR buy some and use it all the time. Your call.

The recipe below looks a little high maintenance, but trust me when I say that all of the components are super easy and the bowls are delicious with just one or two toppings. I wanted you to have options, though, so you can dress these lentil bowls up or down depending on how life is going right now.

Make these soon! Maybe for lunch or dinner on Sunday then for lunches all week.

Enjoy!

Print

More Favorite Bowl Meals