Tahini Dressing

This recipe is base on one from Nora Dummer. You can find her post here.

Yield: About 1 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup water (add more if the dressing is too thick)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon or lime zest
• 1 clove garlic, minced or grated using a microplane
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chile flakes for some spice (optional)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cumin, I prefer whole cumin seeds roasted then crushed.
  

Scoop tahini into a medium sized mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup water. Using a whisk or fork, stir aggressively – the tahini will seize up and get grainy and then relax to a smooth paste. Add honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt and olive oil and stir to combine. Taste, adjust, and eat!

Optional to mixing this in a bowl is to use a pint size jar with a stainless steel shaker ball (search Amazon to find many sellers). Put everything in the jar, toss a lid on and shake. This is a lot easier than battling the whisk and transformation of the tahini. Also, when you are done the dressing is in a container you can use and store.

The dressing can be used for salads, grilled chicken/pork/beef or as a dip with vegies. Pour the dressing in a spouted squeeze bottle for serving. For a salad, a heavier green (spinach, chard, romaine) works best. Add in cucumber, red onions and tomatoes with feta cheese for a Mediterranean style. Blue cheese crumbles with cranberries work nicely too.

I like serving this with Kofta.