Tahini

Since R. B. has expanded his blade assortment beyond an ax, a maul, and a cleaver to include a few kitchen knives, he’s more than happy to wield the Santoku for diced salad vegetables. This kitchen task is best suited for the detail oriented. Around here, that would be R. B., whose T-shirt collection is always impeccably folded, stacked, and arranged by hobby. Instead of limp baby weeds, we vote for a crisp head of chilled iceberg lettuce that cuts beautifully into bite-size pieces for serving with barbecue.

Min found her inspiration for this dressing at the end of the Indian restaurant buffet. That delicious yogurt-dressed lettuce salad is crisper around here, but it’s just as cooling with spicy meats. Garnish the salad with fresh cilantro and mint leaves.

Here’s another good way to utilize root vegetables raw; the dressing adds a rich, delicious flavor.

Homemade hummus is very easy to make. If you don’t have any tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds), a chickpea purée without it is still quite delicious. Just add more olive oil.

This sauce is lovely layered with tomatoes or cucumbers. Thinned with more water, oil, or yogurt, it also makes a great salad dressing. You can buy canned or bottled tahini—ground sesame seed paste—at any Middle Eastern or health food store.

A perfect start to a Chinese meal, this can be prepared almost entirely in advance, varied in a number of ways, and even served as a main course if you like. Though it can be made with peanut butter (the natural kind, please, with no added sugar or fat), it’s easy enough to buy sesame paste (tahini) at health food stores, stores specializing in Middle Eastern or Asian ingredients, and even supermarkets. Sesame oil, which contributes mightily to the flavor of the finished dish, is a staple sold at Asian food stores (and, increasingly, supermarkets) and belongs in every refrigerator. Chinese egg noodles are sold fresh at almost every Chinese market, most Asian supermarkets, and even many ordinary supermarkets. Regular dried pasta makes a good substitute here.

Its flavor bears no resemblance to real caviar, its ingredients (except for the salt) have nothing to do with caviar, but its texture—supposedly—is akin to that of caviar. If there are enough seeds in your eggplant—not necessarily a good thing—I suppose you could argue that its graininess is like that of caviar. In any case, it’s a wonderful spread for Crostini (page 41), as a dip for fresh vegetables, or as a stuffing for roasted peppers or tomatoes (pages 492).

This incredibly simple, delicious sauce is great with Hibachi Souvlaki (p. 164), Turkish Stuffed Eggplant with Spicy Lamb and Rice (p. 280), and good ol’ falafel sandwiches. Double the batch for parties and backyard barbecues (it’s great on lamb burgers and grilled merguez sausage, too). It keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

In this hummus recipe, I use white Italian beans instead of chickpeas for a Mediterranean twist on the Middle Eastern classic. Luscious Garlic Confit (p. 193) infuses the dip with a sweet, rich flavor. This creamy, healthful puree is delicious with crudités, Seasoned Pita Crisps (p. 89), blue corn tortilla chips, or on a sandwich with grilled vegetables and (of course) hot sauce. White Bean Hummus can also partner with a few other items to create a beautiful antipasto platter. Just add, for example, roasted red pepper strips, marinated olives, and a few tablespoons of roasted garlic cloves. Don’t be surprised if this becomes one of your new (snacking and entertaining) staples.

High’s Café is located in Comfort, Texas (about twenty-three miles south of Fredericksburg). In addition to their tasty sandwiches and homemade soups, friends Brent and Denise make the best hummus ever. A wonderful informal party appetizer, hummus is easy to make, healthy, and a favorite for kids and adults alike. I serve it with toasted pita wedges and either carrot or celery sticks (or both) for dipping.

I love hummus, but ever since I had the justifiably famous spicy version at Sahadi’s, a Middle Eastern specialty foods shop in Brooklyn, I’m not satisfied with the tame stuff anymore. This is not their recipe, but it wasn’t hard to add a little fire to my favorite one, which uses more water than you might think, resulting in a particularly silky hummus. Eat some immediately, of course, with crackers or bread or whatever suits your fancy, but make sure to save some for Eggplant and Spicy Hummus Flatbread (page 115), and refrigerate the rest for up to 2 weeks, during which time you can use it as a sandwich spread or even thin it out with vinegar to make a salad dressing. A shortcut, obviously, is to add the pepper-infused olive oil to your favorite store-bought hummus.

The smoky, parchment-hued cream moutabal is one of my desert-island dishes. Few recipes can produce anything as soft and sensuous as grilled eggplant, mashed to a pulp, and seasoned with lemon and sesame paste. The lemon is essential, working an ancient magic when involved with anything charred and smoky. Many lightly bake their eggplant for this, but without a good charring they lack the mysterious, smoky back notes that I consider as much a part of the ingredients as the eggplant itself.

This makes for an easy, satisfying breakfast when summer fruit is plentiful. Tahini, a Middle Eastern nut butter made from ground sesame seeds, is most often used to make hummus and baba ghanoush. I find that locally made and organic brands of tahini are fresher, sweeter, and looser than commercial brands, in which the oil has often separated from the solids.

Banbanji is a Chinese-inspired spicy sesame sauce that pairs wonderfully with chilled ramen noodles, a perfect summertime dish. Instead of grilling the chicken in this recipe, which is typical for cold dishes, you sear the skin side, then steam in sake. This results in crispy skin but incredibly moist chicken with a hint of sake flavor. With this technique, the chicken will always remain juicy and tender, even after you cool it. You can store the banbanji sauce in your refrigerator or freezer and use it over and over.

Hummus is everywhere in Mediterranean cultures. In Greece, it is generally served as an appetizer, swimming in olive oil, accompanied by pita triangles, feta cheese and olives. In the United States, it is also served as a dip for raw vegetables, and often has other ingredients, such as roasted red peppers or pine nuts, blended right in. The basic formula is pretty simple: chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (sesame butter), lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Proportions of the basic ingredients may be varied in accordance with your taste. Less garlic, more garlic, less tahini . . . whatever. Play around with it and see what you get. Fattet is a sort of Middle Eastern layered casserole or salad. Taking a left turn at traditional, it occurred to me that you could easily make a sort of Middle Eastern tostada using some of the common ingredients found in the dish.

Sometimes I feel like the United Nations is meeting in my kitchen. This time around it’s India and Lebanon at the table. It sounds exotic, but this is really just a nice, simple hummus (that’s the Lebanese part) with a zingy curry buzz (hello, Sri Lanka). Chickpeas are rich in protein and essential amino acids for keeping the body strong, while the sesame seeds in the tahini have high levels of anticancer phytochemicals; and since the seeds are ground into a paste, they’re easy to digest.

The classic Middle Eastern team of chickpeas and tahini (sesame paste) is combined in a tasty, offbeat soup. Serve with fresh whole wheat pita bread. Middle Eastern bulgur salad (tabbouleh) and a steamed green vegetable round this meal out nicely.

Tempeh is a soy-based product with a nubby texture. Tahini, or sesame paste, is commonly used in the Middle East as a dressing for falafel (fried chickpea patties) and is an ingredient in hummus and other dishes. Tahini separates when stored; be sure to mix it well before using. Both are easily found at natural food stores (look for tempeh in the refrigerated section next to the tofu). I never peel beets for Glorious One-Pot Meals. Instead, I scrub them well with a brush and use a veggie wash to rinse away any residual grime. Then I simply slice them and toss them in the pot. Try golden beets in this recipe for a change from the typical red ones. They’re just as sweet but won’t color your entire meal red.

These may resemble traditional Buffalo wings in appearance, but a blend of soy sauce, tahini, ginger, garlic, and Asian chile sauce (available at Asian markets) makes these wings major-killer. This sauce is bangin’ and can be used on grilled anything. Instead of typical celery and blue cheese, a cool side of cucumbers, Greek-style yogurt, and fresh mint finishes this dish.