Excellent Sauces and Dressings

Arabic food Sauces and Dressings

How to Make Tahini Paste, or Sesame Seed Butter 

If you love tahini, then you will love how simple it is to make at home. I was in the store the other day picking up a new jar for myself and I saw a bag of sesame seeds for $3 dollars and decided to make it myself since the jar I was about to buy cost $8. What the heck I thought...I make my own Almond Butter, why not my own tahini?! Of course, it was just as good if not better since I made it myself.

Tahini (sesame seed paste) is full of wholesome nutrition. Sesame seeds contain important B Vitamins...B1, B2, B3, B5, as well as a great supply of calcium. They also have beneficial trace elements like copper, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and manganese. Sesame seeds contain both omega 3 & 6 that improve the health of the brain. I'm learning to use tahini in all different kinds of ways...like my Simple White Bean Hummus, or it can be used as a binder in place of hummus for my 'Chickpea of the Sea' Salad Sandwich or Stuffed Avocados. You can also use it in salad dressings, soups, cookies or just eat it plain spread on toast. It pairs well with different flavors like lemon, miso, cumin, parsley, cilantro, garlic, etc. So very good and so very good for you!

Homemade Tahini

Ingredients
3 cups sesame seeds (1 lb.)


First you may want to toast your seeds to bring out the most flavor. You want your seeds to become fragrant and slightly darker during the process (I have to admit that I skip this step and it is completely optional.)

Toast your seeds one of two ways:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place seeds on roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet and roast for about 10-15 minutes making sure to move them around every few minutes so the seeds on the bottom don't burn.

OR

2. Dry roast over medium low heat in a skillet using one cup at a time (add more or less depending on your skillet). Be sure to move the seeds around frequently to ensure that they don't burn.

Once you have toasted your seeds and they have cooled a bit, place them in your food processor, or blender, and process on high until creamy, scrapping down the sides as needed. Will take apprx. 5-10 minutes to blend depending on your equipment.

Store your tahini in an air-tight container in the fridge. Will last up to a couple months. Makes apprx. 2 cups.

Notes:

Since homemade tahini is made using the whole sesame seed and not hulled seeds like store bought tahini, unless you find hulled seeds to use, your consistency may not be as creamy but it's not a big difference and your getting the added benefits of extra fiber and nutrition from the outer shells. The majority of the calcium is lost when the seeds are hulled.

To add extra creaminess use 2 or 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil when blending if desired. This will help create a smoother texture but it will also alter the flavor slightly.


Have fun experimenting with different ways to use tahini...

So easy and delicious...Enjoy !

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Spiced Tahini-Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients 

1/3 cup tahini paste 

3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons full-fat plain organic yogurt

1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

pinch of cardamom powder (optional – adds subtle background flavor)

pinch of cayenne pepper (optional – if you like a kick)

2 tablespoons raw organic chia seeds (totally optional – doesn’t add a taste, but boosts the nutritional value)

unrefined salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Measure all ingredients, add to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth consistency is reached. Keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days.

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