A New Salad Dressing

Making my own salad dressing is nothing new. That’s the way my mother did it growing up, so I grew accustomed to doing it that way. We occasionally had a bottle of ranch in the fridge, but that was for the nights my mom went out and we had a babysitter. We’d have chicken nuggets and chopped up veggies, and use the ranch as dipping sauce for both the nuggets and the veggies. That whole combination though, doesn’t sound too appetizing now.

My standard at home dressing always consists of French mustard, honey or sugar, some type of vinegar, and olive oil. I recently bought a jar of tahini to make hummus, but had a ton leftover. At $7 for the jar, I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I began exploring tahini based dressings. I settled on the one below based on the items in my cupboard. One week later our tahini is almost gone- a testament to how good this dressing is. The flavor is strong yet not overpowering, with great nuttiness from the sesame seeds. It’s also addictively creamy, without the addition of sour cream or mayo.  We’re almost through with the tahini and I definitely plan on buying more.  So in the end, this whole effort to get rid of an ingredient only caused it to become a mainstay in my cupboard.

Tahini Dressing adapted from Epicurious

1/4 c tahini
1/4 c water
1 T lemon juice
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 clove finely minced garlic
2 tsp maple syrup
s+p to taste

Whisk together the tahini and water until completely combined. Then add in remaining ingredients and stir well. If dressing seems to thick, add a bit more water. Toss half of dressing with a large bowl of salad ingredients- add more if desired. Dressing can be stored up to a week, covered, in fridge.