Roasted Cauliflower Buddha Bowl Recipe with Dill Dressing • Steamy Kitchen Recipes Giveaways

posted by Crystal August 29, 2020

Easy roasted cauliflower “steaks” take center stage in this healthy Buddha bowl recipe with grilled fish, mixed greens, and a simple dill dressing served over lemony couscous.

When it comes to eating sustainably and colorfully, we’ve really embraced preparing simple, nutritious one-bowl meals.

Essentially, a Buddha bowl is a one-bowl arrangement of nutritious foods. The term comes from the appearance of the bowl, packed so full of goodness that it resembles the rounded belly of Buddha!

It starts with a base of grains or greens. Then you scoop in two big handfuls of vegetables. Add in a lean protein. Finish it with a savory sauce or dressing plus a sprinkle of crunch.

Use this handy breakdown:

Which brings us to this Roasted Cauliflower Buddha Bowl

For GRAINS: Couscous serves as a soft and bouncy, pasta-like background for the roasted cauliflower to shine in all its nutty bittersweetness. You also can’t go wrong with rice, or a similarly tender grain.
For VEGETABLES: Consider yourself lucky, because cauliflower is a vegetable, after all. We’ll teach you how to make it! In addition, try throwing some mixed salad greens, in all their rawness, to contrast with the drier cauliflower.
For PROTEIN: Reel in any fillets of fish you have on hand, whether they’re leftovers, fillets you can easily cook, or simply canned sardines. Lemon is the leading flavor here, so any of the many other protein sources that get along with it are fair game.
For SAUCE: We’ll teach you how to make a creamy dill dressing that brings the whole Buddha bowl together, as well as a non-creamy version that’s just as easy.
For CRUNCH: Keep it simple with some chopped toasted almonds! Or pick toasted croutons if you like–it’s hard to mess this part up.

A preview of this Buddha Bowl:

Let’s talk about Couscous.

In the wild, you’ll most likely run into three kinds of couscous:

Moroccan – The smallest in size, this type cooks in about 10 minutes. You might see it labeled “instant.”
Israeli – Pellets the size of peppercorns, these usually take more than twice the time to cook but can be shortened if you toast them first.
Lebanese – Often the size of a pea, these take the longest to cook.

A quick comparison of finished couscous dishes:

Relax – I’m going to go easy on you today! For the sake of ease and simplicity, we’ll default to Moroccan couscous.

Whichever variety you go for, use 1 1/4 times the amount of water, or broth, for every cup of couscous.

Start it off like you would pasta; get the water boiling, add some salt, but just a pinch or two, and add the couscous. After that, you’ll just cover the pot and remove it from the heat.
Let the couscous steam until tender. Add a little water if it’s getting too dry before it’s even done!
When done, mix in some lemon zest if you wish. Hint: that lemon will come in handy for the rest of this recipe!

Roasting the Cauliflower

Take the whole head of cauliflower and slice it lengthwise through the core to make a couple of large slabs. Let’s go ahead and refer to them as “steaks.”

You’ll brush them with oil, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, and whatever else you like. Keep it to stuff that doesn’t burn too easily! Feel free to coat the steaks fully now, or brush more on halfway through cooking time.

Roast at 400 degrees F until tender, 30 to 35 minutes, while you move through the rest of the recipe.

Finally, the Creamy Dill Dressing.

Remember those supporting characters for the cauliflower? It’s encore time! We’re bringing most of them back to make this light but creamy yogurt-based dressing. Simply combine:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons chopped dill
Squeeze of lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and fresh black pepper

Play with any herbs you prefer – basil, chervil, chives, cilantro, or parsley, anyone? – and feel free to add heaps more! Keeps in the fridge for 2-4 days.

But if you’re not digging dairy or eggs right now, don’t worry. For a quick and easy vegan version, try this formula:

Handful of dill, chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider red or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5-6 tablespoons mild olive oil
Salt and fresh black pepper
Pinch of sugar if needed

See also: Four Homemade Salad Dressings

Inspirations for this Cauliflower Buddha Bowl recipe

Grains:

Veg:

Roasted Cauliflower Buddha bowl with dill dressing

Easy roasted cauliflower “steaks” take center stage in this Buddha bowl recipe with grilled fish, mixed greens, and a simple dill dressing served over lemony couscous.

Course:

Main Course

Cuisine:

Mediterranean

Keyword:

buddha bowl, buddhabowl

Servings: 4

Calories: 581 kcal

Author: Crystal

For the Vegetables:

2 1/2
tablespoons
cooking oil
1
tablespoon
lemon juice
2
cloves
garlic, crushed
1
pinch
red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1
large
head cauliflower
stem on, sliced lengthwise into 4 “steaks”
2-4
cups
mixed salad greens
or other raw vegetables

For the Grain:

2 1/2
cups
water
or broth
1 1/2
cups
Moroccan couscous
Salt to taste
Lemon zest
optional

For the Dressing:

1/2
cup
plain yogurt
1
clove
garlic, minced
2-3
tablespoons
chopped dill
Squeeze of lemon juice
3
tablespoons
olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Water as needed

For the Crunch:

½
cup
toasted almonds, chopped
or slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Mix oil, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper together. Coat each cauliflower “steak” on both sides with the mixture. Transfer steaks onto a lined baking sheet.
Roast in the preheated oven until golden and fork-tender, flipping halfway, 30 to 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a pot and add salt. Stir in couscous, cover with a lid, and remove pot from heat. Let steam until couscous is tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff grains with a fork if they stick together and season with lemon zest if desired.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time to thin it out into a pourable consistency.
To assemble the bowls, divide couscous among 4 large bowls. Top each with a cauliflower steak, a fillet, and a handful of greens. Drizzle dill dressing over the bowl and top with almonds. Garnish with any extra dill or lemon zest.

Refrigerate dressing in an airtight container and use within 2-4 days.

Nutrition Facts

Roasted Cauliflower Buddha Bowl Recipe with Dill Dressing

Amount Per Serving

Calories 581
Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 4mg1%

Sodium 98mg4%

Potassium 943mg27%

Carbohydrates 68g23%