Real Food - Summer 2019

66 realreal foodfood summersummer 20192019

kitchen skills

Salad Days

Make your own fresh, creamy salad dressing to liven up summer

BY JASON ROSS

Creamy Lemon Tahini Dressing

MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Tahini is made from just one ingredient, sesame seeds, ground into a paste. So luscious

and smooth, it has rich texture and deep flavor, all from a pale golden seed. Use the depth

and intensity of tahini for a rich dressing with surprisingly smooth texture.

1 garlic clove, finely minced

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sesame tahini paste

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the garlic and salt.
   Whisk in the tahini.


2. Combine water and lemon juice and slowly add to the tahini mixture.
   Depending on the thickness of the tahini, more water may be needed to get
   a creamy dressing-like consistency. (Tahini is a starchy puree and, like most
   starches, will oddly thicken or clump when mixed with water. Gradually the sauce
   will loosen as the amount of liquid increases and incorporates into the tahini.)


3. Next whisk in olive oil.


4. Store in a lidded container or jar, refrigerated, for up to 7 days.

VARIATIONS:

Tahini Ranch Dressing: Add ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion

powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon honey and a dash of Tabasco sauce.

Ginger Yogurt Tahini: Substitute 2 tablespoons olive oil with ¼ cup plain

yogurt, and add 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger.

SERVING SUGGESTION: Use tahini dressings with Cucumber Mint Chopped

Salad with Shrimp. For each serving, use 1 cup chopped romaine lettuce, ¼ cup diced

cucumber, ¼ cup diced tomato, 2 tablespoons diced red pepper, 2 tablespoons diced

red onion, 2 tablespoons crumbled feta, 1 tablespoon minced fresh mint, 1/8 teaspoon

salt, grind of black pepper and 2 tablespoons Creamy Lemon Tahini Dressing.

S

ummer is the time to improve your salad game. It is the time to keep indoor cooking to a

minimum and highlight young tender vegetables, foods off the grill and all the bounty of the

season. You need some solid salad dressing recipes in your repertoire—creamy and tangy,

flavorful and yummy, and not too hard to whip together for lunch or dinner.

Here are two base recipes, one with bacon and the other with tahini, that both have big flavor.

Each can be paired with a variety of foods, and each works on a different technique: emulsifying

and using starches as thickeners. Once mastered, these dressings are easy to modify, and I include

suggestions for other variations such as bacon grilled scallion dressing and tahini ranch dressing.

Use these dressings for sturdier salads such as spinach or kale, or shredded cabbage and

carrot, or as a sauce for grilled poultry and seafood. They would also be good with grilled

vegetables such as asparagus or eggplant, or even as a stand-in for a creative Caesar salad.

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil