Herbed Tahini Dressing
January is my month to host our Bunco group for dinner, games and prizes. If you don’t know what bunco is then you either don’t live in a neighborhood such as mine where your neighbors are friends who look for any excuse to get together and connect over wine, food and fun or you just may need to look at the rules of this simple dice game and invite some people over to play.
Each time I host I try to come up with a meal that everyone will enjoy–even in January when diets are the norm and people are likely to politely decline any perceived indulgence. This time I settled on a Falafel Bar. I made these Falafel and Za’atar-spiced, sliced chicken breasts and served them with a table full of options. My friend Kristin lent me some great big, rimmed white plates–essential for signaling my guests to “pile it on.” Among the offerings were: mixed greens, brown rice, pita, lavash, couscous with currants and toasted almonds, green cabbage slaw, pickled red onions, hummus, tzaiki, crumbled feta, cucumber and tomatoes, harissa and this addictive Herbed Tahini Dressing.
The sum was certainly greater than its parts as with any “build your own bowl” meal. The freedom to pile on your favorites and pass over the items that don’t sing to you, makes everybody happy. But if there was any one item on this buffet that I would keep coming back for more of, it would be the Herbed Tahini Dressing that I found and renamed from Bon Appetit. It was the perfect drizzle in the pita sandwich and delicious dressing for every salad. I will most definitely be making this dressing over and over again and suspect that you might, too. Enjoy!
Herbed Tahini Dressing
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed (I used 1 clove because I do not like the overwhelming taste of raw garlic)
- ¾ c coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- ¾ c coarsely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground fenugreek
- 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more
- 1 c tahini
- ¼ c fresh lemon juice
- Pulse garlic, cilantro, parsley, cumin, fenugreek, and 2 tsp. salt in a food processor until similar in texture to pesto.
- Add tahini and lemon juice; process 30 seconds (mixture will be very thick and gray).
- With motor running, gradually drizzle in up to ¾ c water and process, (adding water to thin or less if you hit the consistency that you are looking for), until sauce is light green and the consistency of sour cream or pourable dressing (your choice).
- Season with salt.
- The original recipe claims that you can omit either the cumin or fenugreek, if you don't have both. I haven't tried that but imagine it to be true. I used both.