The BetterDay recipe file
Balsamic tahini dressing
Five minutes, one jar, and salad stops being the thing you eat because you should.
Conner KadziolkaUpdated 2 min read
The short answer
A good balsamic tahini dressing takes five minutes and one bowl: tahini, balsamic, olive oil, a shallot and a spoon of maple. It keeps a week in the fridge, so one batch on Sunday covers most of your lunches.
Prep
5 min
Cook
0 min
Total
5 min
Makes
About 1 cup, enough for 6 to 8 salads
01 / Recipes
It takes about five minutes and one bowl, and it keeps in the fridge for a week. Make it on Sunday and you have already solved lunch four times.
Tahini is the part doing the heavy lifting. It is ground sesame seeds, nothing else, and it brings protein, fat and fibre along with calcium, magnesium and iron. It also gives the dressing body without any dairy, which is why this works as a dip as easily as it works on greens. Hummus is made from it too, and it turns up in our Zesty Zaatar Kofta Mezze, served with turkey kofta and tomato couscous.
02 / Recipes
A note on the shallot
A minced shallot is softer and sweeter than raw garlic and it melts into the dressing instead of shouting over it. If you only have garlic, use one small clove and expect a sharper, punchier result. Both are good. They are just different dressings.
03 / Recipes
What to put it on
- Any green salad, obviously, but especially bitter leaves like radicchio or arugula
- Roasted broccoli or cauliflower, while still warm, so it soaks in
- A grain bowl with chickpeas and whatever is left in the crisper
- Straight off a carrot stick, standing at the fridge, which is how most of ours gets eaten
The recipe
Balsamic Tahini Dressing
A creamy, nutty, tangy dressing made with tahini, balsamic and a spoonful of maple. Keeps one week in the fridge.
Prep
5 min
Cook
None
Total
5 min
Makes
About 1 cup, enough for 6 to 8 salads
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small shallot, minced (or 1 small clove garlic, minced)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water, to thin
Method
- 1In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, minced shallot, maple syrup, Dijon, sea salt and black pepper until smooth.
- 2Add water one tablespoon at a time, whisking, until the dressing pours the way you want it to.
- 3Taste. Add salt if it is flat, another splash of balsamic if it is too rich, a little more maple if the vinegar is winning.
- 4Pour into a jar with a tight lid and refrigerate.
- 5Shake well before each use. A pinch of chili flakes on the way out of the jar is a very good idea.
Keeps
Up to one week in a sealed jar in the fridge. It thickens when cold, so shake it well and let it sit out for a minute before using.
Chef’s note
Runny tahini and stiff tahini behave completely differently. If yours has been sitting in the cupboard, stir the jar properly before you measure, or you will scoop pure oil off the top and wonder why nothing thickens.
On the menu this week
Entrées
Zesty Zaatar Kofta Mezze
Turkey kofta brings the Mediterranean mood, served over mixed greens and lemon-zaatar orzo with crisp cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and roasted veggies. Finished with creamy dill-mint Haydari and house-made beet hummus for a sun-soaked, mezze-style bite.
On this week’s menu
Entrées
Zesty Zaatar Veggie Mezze
Vegan zaatar koftas served over tomato couscous with roasted carrot and zucchini, creamy garlic hummus, crumbled vegan feta, and a drizzle of cool tzatziki.
On this week’s menu
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