Many times we just keep getting different magazines and don’t even bother reading it. I get a couple of food magazines, I scanned through, plan to make a couple of recipes but very rarely get to it. It was different this time. When I got this issue of Food and Wine, I was in love with this recipe. I had to make it. So a friend of mine was coming over for lunch and I decided to try this recipe on her. She is not a hard-core vegan but prefers not having dairy products. This recipe was perfect. 
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1 cup beluga or green lentils, rinsed
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch florets
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of cayenne
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 10 dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups loosely packed spinach
- 2 cups loosely packed arugula
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds in a pie plate and toast for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden. Let cool, then coarsely chop. Increase the oven temperature to 425°.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the lentils with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until tender, 20 minutes. Drain well and let cool. These lentils are called Beluga lentils since they resemble the ‘beluga caviar’. 🙂 
In a large bowl, whisk the tahini with the lemon juice, honey, the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of water until smooth. If you want to make it vegan, you can use Agave in place of the honey.
Very often found in the Lebanese cuisine, tahini is a power food. It is a fine paste made from sesame seeds which are rich in protein, calcium and minerals. Sesame seeds are used very commonly in the southern and western regions of India. It has a beautiful nutty flavor. 
