Tahini! and what to do with it

Thanks Nancy Reading for the idea of starting a separate thread to address this question!

Nancy Reading wrote:
The tahini I have in my store is just roast ground sesame seed, so if yours had other ingredients you may need to take those into account when formulating your recipe, otherwise I suspect it's just terminology. You can get a dark tahini, which I suppose is just roasted more....
Do you need more recipes for tahini, or the dressing? It may go well as a pasta salad dressing - hot or cold, with a bit of chicken or chickpeas and veg. I'm not sure about pop corn :neutral: let us know! For tahini, the only thing I can think of is hummous, so it may be worth starting a new thread for that! You can use it in cakes, our local baker does a wicked tahini blondie :twisted:;

My jar of tahini says all that's in it is ground sesame seeds. It's quite light coloured. I think there's a bout a cup and a half left of it.

The tahini dressing I made (testing a recipe for a friend) - is a cup of tahini, a couple of cloves of garlic, some lemon juice, some soy sauce and some honey and water.

I don't know what I'm going to do with either of these now! Although I have sort of promised to try drizzling some of the dressing on popcorn, which is probably going to be a disaster...

I'm also looking forward to trying the tahini dressing on pasta salad, that sounds like a potentially delicious idea. I might even be able to try that tomorrow for lunch!

What other ideas are out there? :)

Tahini cookies are like an alternate peanut butter cookie.

I need more tahini recipes myself...

Please check "Samak bi Tahini" - fish in tahini sauce. For the sauce I use tahini mixed with sour orange juice.

Some tahini ideas:

Molasses or honey mixed with tahini for a sweet and iron-rich dip for apple slices.

A spoonful of tahini stirred into your favored steamed or sautéed greens.

A spoonful of tahini stirred into a bowl of your favorite soup to add a rich finishing touch.

Also use anywhere you might use peanut butter.

Sorry Vera, you've confused me a little bit.

1. Are you looking for more ideas to use up the leftover Tahini Dressing you already made?

2. Are you looking for ideas to use up the rest of the jar of plain tahini?

Or both?

If you're looking for ways to use up tahini, another thing is sesame noodles. Some recipes only call for sesame oil, but it's good with tahini. Garlic, ginger, optional dried red chillies, a diced vegetable, soy sauce and tahini. And then cooked noodles mixed in till coated.

(In my thickest middle-eastern accent) Why you are not making hummus?

Or if you have no patience for making hummus, make tahina, a middle-eastern dressing that is great drizzled on ... well, everything. But especially over other middle-eastern food like shishtawook, kofte kebab, Arabic or Israeli salad, majudara, lentil soup, you name it.

Tahina ingredients are all mixed together thoroughly in a bowl. First add your tahini. I always eyeball the proportions for everything else, but to best approximation, for every cup of tahini you need...

- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp comino
- 1/4 tsp salt, but you can add more or less to taste
- cold water, added bit by bit with thorough mixing in between, until the mixture has a smooth consistency somewhere between honey and gravy

Preferred but optional:
- Paprika, sprinkled over it at the end
- Za'atar, sprinkled over it at the end

As with many middle-eastern foods of this type, consider ingredients "divided" as you may need to adjust proportions as you go.

that tahini dressing you made goes well on top of hummus or any other type of bean or whatever, on top of some kind of bread.... i made ful (beans) last night and smeared on homemade pita bread with some chopped onions and tahini sauce that will be my fabulous lunch.

As for the tahini itself- i think the first choice of what I'd make is cold sesame noodles (often they involve a mix of tahini and peanut butter, since tahini is pricey), i make a semolina cake (basbousa) that comes out amazing if you grease the pan with tahini instead of oil/butter, and if you're really into doing weird things, you could always make gomadofu (sesame tofu, it's more like a jello than a tofu though) out of tahini, almost all the recipes on the internet use tahini rather than actual sesame seeds.

Ned Harr wrote:Why you are not making hummus?

Technically, "hummus" means chick peas in their language, so true hummus is made from those. However, I always end up with more Scarlet Runner bean seeds than I need for growing next year, so I dry them well and store them for making bean dip in the winter. I use the same recipe I would use for hummus which I admit is a bit of an adaptation from what the Middle-Easterners would do, but it suits my tastes better. For example, I *really* don't much like cumin, so I use a bit of cayenne pepper instead. I'm also known to rehydrate a few dried mini-tomatoes which add a little sweetness to the dip.

I think sometimes people try a food and decide they don't like it for many different reasons. I'm getting better at figuring out *why* I don't like it, and changing it. As I've aged, I also don't tolerate raw garlic the way I used to. I used baked garlic in my bean dips now.

Jay Angler wrote:Sorry Vera, you've confused me a little bit.

1. Are you looking for more ideas to use up the leftover Tahini Dressing you already made?

2. Are you looking for ideas to use up the rest of the jar of plain tahini?

Or both?

Both!

For lunch today - a quarter of a cup of dried cavatappi pasta, boiled and drained, etc., as per direction on box. Plus, a handful of organic salad greens, half an avocado, sliced, a sprinkling of feta cheese, half a slice of home-made bread, and a couple of glugs of the left over tahini dressing. (It's pretty thick and comes out of the bottle it's in on it's own schedule)
Result - happy tummy.

Jay Angler wrote:Technically, "hummus" means chick peas in their language, so true hummus is made from those. However, I always end up with more Scarlet Runner bean seeds than I need for growing next year, so I dry them well and store them for making bean dip in the winter. I use the same recipe I would use for hummus which I admit is a bit of an adaptation from what the Middle-Easterners would do,  

This is perfect, I have scarlet runner bean seeds that I harvested and stuck in my freezer having no idea what to do with them next.
Right now I have a couple of "sort of hummus" jars to go through, but when I'm done with them... I will definitely try scarlet runner bean "hummus"!

For example, I *really* don't much like cumin, so I use a bit of cayenne pepper instead.

Cumin is an important ingredient in tahina, and many other middle-Eastern dishes, but I don't think it belongs in hummus.

Ned Harr wrote:....Cumin is an important ingredient in tahina, and many other middle-Eastern dishes, but I don't think it belongs in hummus.

I think I've seen the use of cumin as well, but not in high doses.  Was at a potluck this week where someone added pumpkin puree to their hummus and it was pretty tasty!

For those who are not fans of cumin, but still want a bit of a smokey, earthy flavor, you might try a small bit of chipotle.

Once again, a permies thread is at fault for making me peruse the cupboards!  ;-)  ....

I didn't realize how easy making your own tahini from sesame seeds was, but scores of tutorials on YouTube have provided the education.  It appears very similar to making your own peanut butter with the extra step added of roasting the sesame seeds for a bit before processing. Looking forward to making some as the winter months set in.....

John Weiland wrote:I didn't realize how easy making your own tahini from sesame seeds was,

If you've got good equipment for making Peanut butter, you should be fine. Unfortunately, the equipment I tried to use didn't have the ability to get the texture as smooth a some of my fussy friends I share bean dip with need. As is, with the commercial tahini, they still whine a bit about "bits" from the beans!  

It would be different is I could reliably grow sesame here, but it seems to need warmer summer temperatures than we reliably get. The peanuts that the neighborhood squirrels keep planting in my garden, don't germinate either! At least they add carbon and nitrogen to the soil.

If you are fortunate enough to have a place near you that sells carob molasses, the combination of the two is a delicious dessert called dibs. Seemingly often used as a dip, for fruit or baked goods. Other tahini uses: drizzled over dates with a sprinkle of flaky salt, as an element in granola, cookies, or brownies, and of course falafel!

If you don't have chickpeas this is great. I like to double the Tahini and add my own DIY Devil Dust (hickory smoked cayenne ground to fine) or a few Jalapenos or an habanero and a few dollops of Lazy Kettle All-Natural Liquid Smoke.


This smoky roasted carrot white bean hummus is easy to make but fancier than classic hummus. White beans blend up to creamy bliss, and the combination of roasted carrots and smoked paprika gives it a sweet and smoky flavour.

INGREDIENTS

ROASTED CARROTS
3 medium carrots, peeled if desired and chopped into 1/2-inch rounds
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch each fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
HUMMUS
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (such as cannellini or navy), or 1 14-oz can, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Roasted carrots from above
Water, as needed to thin the hummus to your liking

INSTRUCTIONS
ROAST THE CARROTS: Place the chopped carrots in a small bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper. Toss to coat and transfer to a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.
MAKE THE HUMMUS: Place the white beans, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and roasted carrots in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add water if you would like a thinner dip. Transfer to a container and serve!
NOTES
Chickpeas will also work if that’s all you have!

For a kick of heat, add cayenne or chili flakes to taste.

I like to garnish the dip with a few leaves of cilantro.

I love halva but haven't gotten around to making my own. It seems pretty simple and I might try this halva recipe next time I splurge on some tahini.

I have used a very similar recipe with peanut butter instead to make something close to butterfingers and it is a family fave.

Oh my! Do you have a sweet tooth ever? I like to freeze banana slices and then serve them in a bowl with some tahini spooned on top. Or! How a bout make your own halvah....super easy. Look for recipes on line. I've made it several times and been very happy with the results.

I recall a recipe I loved from a book about menopause from the 1980s or 1990s whose name I can't remember. This recipe was in a section about getting enough calcium.

Mix together
-mashed baked sweet potato
-soaked, chopped hiziki (a kind of seaweed)
-tahini
Form them into balls
Roll them in sesame seeds.
yumyum!

That tahini dressing is really good on regular salad of any kind. I often add yogurt to it too.
And in addition to hummus, there is baba ganoush:
mash or food-process together:
*baked- or steamed-in-the-skin eggplant (if the skin is very soft (sometimes happens when you steam it), I process the skin right in with the rest)
*tahini
*garlic
*salt
pour some olive oil over it.
scoop it up with pita or other bread or crackers and eat
and eat it with salad or raw or steamed veg and of course very nice as a platter with hummus and tabouli and stuffed grape leaves

Yum, tahini!
I think most of my favourite ways to use are covered already. By the way, I think the darker variety I can get here (organic German brand) is made from the unshelled seeds and the usual lighter one with shelled ones. Both varieties are so easy to get that I wouldn't bother making my own.

My top uses are:
Hummus, of any kind (chickpeas, beans, some beet, red kuri etc.)
salad dressing, or thicker dressing for baked potatoes
as addition to my porridge (it has a good amount of protein, healthy fats and relatively high iron)
as an emulsifier for Ramen bowls
like in this example: