I really love tahini. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a Middle Eastern paste made of ground sesame seeds and it’s delicious. It’s one of the key ingredients in hummus but I really like the roasty flavor it acquires when it is baked. It’s great baked with meat (can you say lamb?!), beans or vegetables.
10 small carrots
12 small brussels (halved)
1 lemon
1 lg garlic clove
2 tbsp tahini (depending on thickness)
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp tamari (can substitute soy sauce)
1/4 cup cannelini beans
1 tbsp water
olive oil
black pepper
in a small bowl mix tahini, tamari, cumin, lemon juice and water
pre-heat oven to 350°F
mince garlic and add to the sauce, juice half of the lemon into the sauce as well
line a baking dish and spread the carrots, beans and brussels in it; drizzle them with a little olive oil and sprinkle with pepper
pour tahini sauce over everything
bake for 20 minutes or until tahini starts turning golden brown and brussels are roasted to your liking
Sometimes when I don’t feel like going out or going grocery shipping, I pretend I’m on Chopped and turn it into a cooking challenge to figure out a meal using what’s on hand. It’s quite a skill to have, if I may say so myself.
One night my mom and I came home with no specific dinner plan but some pretty great things came out of it. We had some trusty brussels sprouts on hand. Knowing you have a stash of brussels at home is always reassuring because they’re versatile and they last a long time. You can roast them, sauté them or slice them up raw for a substantial salad, which is what I decided to do on said night.
Recipe:
1 lb brussels cleaned and thinly sliced
2 cups frozen edamame
3 shallots
1/3 cup golden raisins/golden berries/dates/dried apricots
1 tbsp yellow miso *note
1/3 cup pistachios
2 tbsp tahini **
generous splash tamari (soy sauce is ok too)
a few generous squirts sriracha
couple of tsps black and/or white sesame seeds
heat a small pat of butter in a nonstick pan and caramelize shallots
clean and slice brussels, leaving out bitter, white cores
cook edamames
soak your dried fruit of choice in hot water to plump them up, drain and add to sliced brussels along with the edamames
heat miso in the pan used for caramelization, add pistachios, don’t worry if it’s gooey, it will be fine once it joins the other ingredients *
add the miso/pistachios, tahini **, tamari, sriracha and sesame seeds, toss
* you can skip the miso pistachio step and just use slivered almonds or plain pistachios if you’re not feelin it
**my favorite tahini (especially for this recipe) is the whole foods brand because it’s more viscous than your average thick, sticky tahini. it’s also usually the cheapest
We’ve remade this salad a few times and switched up the nuts and dried fruits depending on what’s available and/or on what sounds appealing to the chefs at the moment.
Speaking of tahini and this salad, this is one of the things we showed our neighbor how to make in an impromptu “what makes good leftovers” cooking class at her house. We also made this tempeh-tahini bake creation that is one of my all time favorite comfort food dinners. We actually adapted the recipe from a lamb dish in “Jerusalem” by Ottolenghi and Tamimi. I will have to remake it to figure out proportions and measurements. I’ve never paid much attention because I am too focused on eating it. RECIPE COMING SOON
