In my own words, I used to be a complete “peanut-butter head”, eating about a jar a week on everything, from sliced apples to porridge. The thought of being without a jar filled me with dread, so much so that I would take it to hotels when I was working away. And yet, I haven’t even fancied any in weeks, possibly months. What changed?
I discovered tahini.
I’ve had a jar of peanut butter languishing in the cupboard since I moved house in January, but I’m on my sixth jar of this liquid gold. It makes me think of this, from ’10 Things I Hate About You’:
Bianca: There’s a difference between like and love. Because, I like my Skechers, but I love my Prada backpack.
Chastity: But I love my Skechers.
Bianca: That’s because you don’t have a Prada backpack.
Like, I like peanut butter, and I thought I loved it, until I found true love with a sesame paste, of all things. I’m not the only one who thinks it’s marvelous – this week it’s the “Good for You” food of the week in the Guardian and Yottam Ottolenghi would probably rather go without water than tahini for a day.
We’ve talked about the health benefits here, too. Protein, minerals, vitamins, and it tastes darn fine.
Whip up a batch of this dressing and keep it in a jar in the fridge. It works well as a dressing over raw spinach for a salad, or steamed or stir-fried veggies. As in the picture, all it takes is some grains and some toasted seeds to make stir-fried greens a substantial, tasty meal.
Be aware that traditional miso contains dashi, which is made from fish so isn’t vegetarian. Check the label – most of the miso sold in health food stores and lots sold in supermarkets is fish-free.
Makes a couple of servings of the dressing, depending on how much you want to drown your food… Scale it up and make a jarful.
The Recipe
- 4 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon miso (experiment with different kinds. I like the dark miso at the moment)
- Half a clove of garlic, grated
- Scant 1cm ginger, grated
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp tamari or light soy sauce
- Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
- A little warm water for thinning
- Mix all of the ingredients in a jar and shake. Add more warm water as needed until it is a pouring consistency.
“The thought of being without a jar filled me with dread” – this is me! I am obsessed with peanut butter, but I will try tahini and see how I go! How does it compare health/fat/nutrient wise with peanut butter?
Btw, I’ve just discovered you via a post on Trail Running on Facebook and love your site – you speak to me as a Veggie Runner! 🙂
Glad you found us, Hilary. Even gladder that you like us! 😉 To answer your question, PB and tahini have a broadly similar nutritional profile, but the latter contains a lot more calcium. Here’s a table with comparisons for all nut butters (we can’t vouch for it; we don’t know where the data came from but it seems legit) > http://www.veganpeace.com/nutrient_information/nutrient_content_tables/display_tables/nut_seed_butters/nut_seed_butters.htm