Lemony Cauliflower Over Labneh
Lemony Cauliflower Over Labneh
Spring Greetings, Our Community Table Readers!
I was in Washington D.C., over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, visiting family and enjoying some of the many wonderful food offerings a larger city like D.C. has to offer. One of the places we went was a fabulous little spot that just happened to be listed in the Michelin Guide called Sababa, which, as the name might suggest, boasts an Israeli/Mediterranean menu. And oh, my goodness, everything we tried there was ridiculously good. Two dishes really stood out among the excellence. A lemony cauliflower small plate, and a dessert tart (yes, dessert at 11:00 a.m.—no judgment!), chocolate crusted, filled to the top with a tahini salted caramel and further gilded with a healthy dollop of lightly sweetened labneh whipped cream. The tart was so incredibly good! I simply had to find that recipe!
Fortunately, very early in my search, a recipe that looked just like the tart we’d had popped up via the Washington Post. The recipe gave all credit to Chef Adeena Sussman and her book, Sababa. “Hmm,” I thought excitedly. “I have that cookbook!” Fast forward to the end of this tale, when I returned home, opened my copy of the Sababa cookbook, and gleefully found the recipe, which was seemingly identical to the one in the Post, and I’m fairly certain to the one in the restaurant named Sababa as well, though, to my knowledge, the Sababa cookbook and the Sababa restaurant are not connected or related in any way.
I continued flipping through the book, marveling at how wonderful all the recipes looked, and came across another familiar-looking item—the lemony cauliflower we had all enjoyed as a small plate. And so it happened one early evening soon after, as I was unenthusiastically preparing to bring out the same dinner leftovers for the third night in a row, (G-d bless my husband, who almost never complains!) I thought I might try this cauliflower and infuse new life into my otherwise very sad and sorry dinner offerings.
Now, I can’t swear that this is the same as the one we had in the restaurant—I didn’t pay close enough attention at the time. I’m pretty sure the restaurant’s had a tahini base of some type while this one has labneh, but if it isn’t the same, I think it must be very similar. And very, very delicious.
Beautiful on a plate, it presents as a lovely pyramid of golden, slightly charred cauliflower florets bathed in a lemony dressing with a bit of sweetness from the barberry/cranberry. With a little spice from the chili, and a little crunch from the pine nuts, the dish is sprinkled with a bit of greenery (parsley) and set all atop an artful shmear of garlic kissed labneh. You are welcome!
Cristyne Porile
Community Contributor
Lemony Cauliflower over Labneh
An Adeena Sussman Recipe from her excellent book, Sababa. Serves 3-4
At restaurants all over Israel, you’ll find a plate of simply fried cauliflower, or cruvit, its edges crisp, its sweetness intensified by the high heat. I oven-roast the cauliflower instead and add a generous lashing of freshly squeezed lemon juice before roasting, which helps that lemony punch permeate every bite. I like to have a lot of cauliflower “crumbs,” little pieces that turn dark and golden upon contact with high heat and oil. Serving the warm cauliflower over the cool, creamy labneh allows you to multiply exponentially the number of textures and flavors you get in one bite.
INGREDIENTS
1 medium head cauliflower, leaves trimmed
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1½ teaspoons kosher salt to taste
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh jalapeños, or ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
¼ cup dried barberries, chopped dried cranberries, or pomegranate seeds
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1 small garlic clove, very finely minced
¾ cup Labneh or Greek yogurt
Chopped fresh chives, cilantro, or parsley, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Halve the cauliflower through the core and stem. Using a sharp knife, cut the florets into varying sizes, making sure there are some really small pieces.
In a medium bowl, toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, half the lemon juice and zest, the salt, black pepper, and jalapeños. Spread evenly on a large, rimmed baking sheet and roast until the edges begin to char, 20 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape the cauliflower to move it around, then roast until the cauliflower is crispy and dark golden, another 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle the remaining lemon juice and zest all over the cauliflower right on the pan, add the barberries and pine nuts, toss, and season with salt and black pepper.
To serve, stir the garlic and labneh in a medium bowl until incorporated, spread on a medium plate, and top with the cauliflower. Season with additional salt and pepper, drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired, and sprinkle with chives, cilantro, or parsley.