Roasted Cauliflower with Spiced Chickpeas & Herby Yoghurt

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 220g Greek yogurt
• 15g mint, finely chopped
• 15g dill, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 70g rocket
• salt and black pepper to taste
• Crusty bread, to serve
• warm flatbreads, to serve
• plain couscous, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C fan and pat the chickpeas properly dry with a tea towel — water means steam, and steam means soggy chickpeas instead of crisp ones.
2. Tip the cauliflower and chickpeas onto a large tray with the olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika and ground coriander. Season generously with salt and pepper, then toss until every floret and chickpea is slick with spiced oil. Spread them in a single layer with breathing room — crowd the tray and they steam rather than roast.
3. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, turning once halfway. The oil bloom the spices in the heat — they go from raw and dusty to fragrant and toasted in the first ten minutes, which is when the kitchen starts to smell of the dish you're about to eat. You're after tender cauliflower with charred edges and chickpeas that rattle on the tray.
4. While the tray is in the oven, grate the garlic into the Greek yoghurt — raw garlic is sharp, so a single clove is plenty. Stir in the chopped mint and dill, the lemon zest and half the lemon juice. Taste and season: it should taste fresh and herby and lifted, not bland. Adjust the salt now, not at the table.
5. Pull the tray out and give it a final toss so the crisp chickpeas are evenly distributed and not all stuck in one corner.
6. Scatter the rocket across a large platter and spoon over a layer of the herby yoghurt first, so it becomes part of the plate rather than an afterthought. Pile the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas on top, then spoon over the remaining yoghurt in generous puddles.
7. Finish with a squeeze of lemon over the cauliflower, scatter the torn mint and dill, and serve warm with flatbreads and couscous alongside, lemon wedges on the side. Every forkful should be crisp chickpea, soft cauliflower and cool yoghurt.