Perfectly Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1 head of Cauliflower    

2 -3 Garlic cloves

Olive Oil

Salt

Thyme

1 15 ounce can Chickpeas – drained

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 375 F.

Prepare 1 or 2 large rimmed sheet pans by drizzling them with Olive Oil.

Wash the Cauliflower and remove any leaves.  On a large cutting board, first cut the Cauliflower in half and then cut each half into approximately half inch slices.  You can leave the slices large or break them up into bite size pieces if you prefer. 

Lay each slice of Cauliflower on the rimmed baking sheets and turn them over in the olive oil.   

Chop the Garlic in large pieces, about 4-6 pieces per clove depending on the size of your cloves.   

Top the Cauliflower with the chopped Garlic.  Sprinkle with Salt and Thyme.  Drizzle with a little more Olive Oil.  At this point you can either add the drained Chickpeas to the pan with the Cauliflower or if you prefer hold off and add the Chick Peas at the half way point. 

Note: Cooking the Chickpeas for the entire time will yield a crunchier but also slightly drier result.  If you choose to add the Chick Peas at the half way point, they won’t be quite as crisp, but still absolutely delicious. 

Position pans in the lower third of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, then flip the Cauliflower and Chick Peas over or add the Chickpeas to the pan at this point if you didn’t already.  Bake another 15 minutes more on the second side.  If using 2 pans rotate their positions in the oven when you flip the Cauliflower.  The pan towards the center of the oven may take a little bit longer to cook than the pan in the lower part.  The Cauliflower should develop a beautiful golden carmelized color. 

Remove from pan with a spatula (or eat right off the pan as we often do in our house) and Enjoy!

Recipe Notes: Roasted Chick Peas and Cauliflower are a great accompaniment to any main dish.  We like them tossed with pasta or as a side with Quinoa Fritters or even with Tabbouleh.