884    Tahini Sauce

Ingredients

Method

Tahini sauce is extremely simple and works well in sandwiches or as a salad dressing.

Yield 1 cup 
Time 5 minutes 
Tools hand mixer 
bowl 

Ingredients juice from 2 lemons 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
about 2/3 c Tahini 
salt 

Directions Combine the lemon juice and garlic, then begin blending in the tahini a little bit at a time. Once all the Tahini is incorporated you should have a smooth, cream sauce. 
Add water or Tahini to arrive at desired consistency, and salt to taste.

Notes Thicker Tahini sauce is great as a sandwich spread, while thinner tahini sauce can be drizzled over salad, vegetables, or falafel.

Think peanut butter, only made with sesame seeds. To make Tahini, sesame seeds are soaked in water for a day, then crushed to separate the bran from the kernels. The crushed seeds are put into salted water, where the bran sinks, but the kernels float and are skimmed off the surface. They are toasted, then ground to produce their oily paste. There are two types of tahini, light and dark, and the light ivory version is considered to have both the best flavor and texture. 

Tahini is most closely associated with the Middle East, where it is eaten as is, and often used in making hummus (mashed chickpeas, flavored with lemon juice and garlic), baba ghanoush (a purée of eggplant, lemon juice, garlic, and oil), halvah (a confection that includes honey or cane syrup), and other traditional dishes. 

Some people say it reminds them of peanut butter, which you can substitute for it if you want. But we wouldn’t.