This mild tahini sauce is delicious on any kind of vegetables, but goes expecially well with steamed greens. It is better to use organic tahini if you can get it (non-organic tahini may be made in a factory where peanut butter is also made, and often acquires the stronger taste of peanuts, as well as some of the pollutants common in those factories). The roasted versions of tahini are more easily digested, but for the young and strong, raw tahini is also acceptable.
Ingredients
Additional Notes
This recipe differs from many tahini sauce recipes by lacking garlic (which is optional and can be added later). Store the blended sauce in sealed jars in the refrigerator except at mealtimes. It should keep for about a week. I find it better to blend the sauce slowly (to avoid lumping); the best implement for blending is a Danish dough hook (which can be ordered from Amazon and is also useful for bread-making).
You can make this basic sauce and keep it around, and then at certain meals, modify the sauce (if desired) by adding small amounts of umeboshi vinebar, tamari sauce, garlic, or other flavorings. Or just use it with its inherent, mild, nutty flavor.
Depending on how stiff the tahini is, it can take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes to make this recipe.
Instructions
- Pour the lemon juice (strained of any seeds or solid matter) into a mixing bowl.
- Add the salt to the lemon juice.
- Add the tahini. Using a Danish dough hook (or other strong stirring implement), gently and slowly blend the tahini and lemon juice until it makes a smooth paste.
- NOTE: Often, the oil in tahini sauce has separated from the solids. The goal at this point (before adding water) is to blend the acidic lemon juice, the oil and solids from the tahini, so that it is without lumps, before beginning to blend in the water slowly.
- Slowly add water (maybe a third of a cup at one time). Blend thoroughly before adding more water. You may only need 1 and 1/2 cups or water (if you want your sauce thick), or all 2 cups (or even a bit more) if you want your sauce thinner. Since the consistency of the tahini itself, as well as the size of lemons, varies, the amount of water to add is a matter of personal taste. Remember that, once refrigerated, the sauce will thicken slightly.