tahini

PREP SAUCE SUNDAY: CHILI OIL, GARLIC & LIME TAHINI SAUCE /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

sunday greetings! we're here with another sauce to get you through the week.  i'm still cooking everyday here at home for my boys (hence my absence from this space).  i made this sauce weeks ago when i got a CSA from a local farm. it had a bunch of cabbage, which is generally not my go-to vegetable - especially this time of year. however, whenever i do prepare cabbage, i always go the route of a slaw. this particular one i made had green and purple cabbage, slivered kale, chopped cilantro, segmented cara cara oranges, a ton of toasty sesame seeds; and this chili oil, garlic & lime tahini sauce. i kind of just threw it together based on a spicy almond butter sauce i make, and it turned out so much better than i had anticipated (which is always a victory). i’ve been making it now for a few months to have on hand for dressing salads, chops, slaws; but also for dipping and thinning out for hearty leafy dishes as well. it’s become a reliable staple here, and i wanted to share in hopes that it becomes one of your favorites too :)

like our last sauce/dressing, it relies heavily on a handful of pantry goods: chili oil, rice vinegar, tahini, etc.  along with a few counter-friendly items: ginger, garlic, and a good amount of lime juice.  they come together to make a fiery, and super punchy and flavorful sauce. a lot like most of the sauces/dressings/dips in this prep sauce series, it can be used for a number of dishes: pour it over a slaw, or for a salad with dark leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, etc.). drizzle it over roasted vegetables such as: broccoli, brussels sprouts, roasted carrots, etc. i could see this being a delicious satay-style dip for chicken satay, or even sweet potato wedges. the list goes on. hoping this sauce provides you a little breather in your cooking hustle this week.

xo

Chili Oil, Garlic & Lime Tahini Sauce | gf & plant-based

| makes roughly 1 1/2 cups |

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notes: this sauce is pretty flexible in terms of substitutions. if you don’t have tahini, use almond or cashew butter in its place (you can use peanut butter, but it’s going to change the flavor substantially). you may not stock your pantry with chili oil, i get it. you could certainly use sriracha in its place. coconut aminos can also be substituted with gluten-free tamari, or a gluten-free soy sauce. if you don’t have fresh ginger, start with about 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger and go from there. if you don’t like or have honey, simply replace it with maple syrup or another sweetener of choice.

ingredients

  • 1/2 cup tahini

  • 1/4 cup water

  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • juice from 2 limes

  • 1 tablespoon coconut aminos

  • 1-inch knob of ginger, grated over a microplane

  • 1 clove garlic, grated over a microplane

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons raw honey

  • 1-3 teaspoons chili oil, depending on how spicy you want it

  • fine salt & fresh ground pepper

method

  1. in a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients, and season with salt & pepper. taste and adjust, adding more seasoning to your liking.

  2. pour sauce into a tightly fitted lidded jar and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

WHIPPED TAHINI SAUCE /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

i’ve been waiting quite a while to post this recipe. i was most familiar with tahini as an ingredient in hummus. my mom would buy it at the health food store a few times a year when she would whip up hummus. but aside from that, we never used tahini in our house. until i went dairy free years ago. since then, it’s been an all-time favorite ingredient of mine (if you do a quick search on my site, a plethora of recipes will pop up!). it’s that kind of pantry staple that lends depth, flavor, and creaminess in just about any and every dish you could imagine. be it salad dressings, soups, drizzled on your favorite mains and salads, tahini is a rich and satisfying partner to whatever it is you’re preparing regardless of whether you’re whipping it or not.

add that tahini with a few other basic ingredients to a food processor, and you’ve got yourself the smoothest and frothiest sauce to spread, drizzle, and add to all the things. you can serve this dip/sauce immediately after you make it, which will be a bit on the warm side from the motor of your food processor. or, you could store it in your fridge and serve it within 5-7 days. this obviously will result with a colder sauce/dip, and will have seized a bit and have a thicker consistency. this is completely normal and great to serve as a dip. but, if you would like it to be thinner and more on the drizzling side of spectrum, just whisk a bit of water in a little at a time to get your desired consistency - don’t forget to taste it after and season the tahini if need be, the water can dilute it, especially if you add enough.

this is the kind of sauce that elevates any dish really - it turns bland grilled chicken is completely different meal. it magically makes roasted veggies more appealing, or a salad more creamy and exciting. whatever random (or non random) meals or ingredients you have in your fridge, whipped tahini will 100% make them more satisfying - promise!

also! we’ve started a hashtag! if you make any of the sauces from this sunday series, you can hashtag them on instagram with: #prepsaucesunday so we can all share in the fun, and hopefully get even more ideas on how we’re using these sauces throughout the week!

xo!!

whipped tahini sauce

| makes roughly 2 cups |

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method

  1. place the tahini, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and salt into the container of a food processor fitted with a metal “s” blade. with the engine running, drizzle in the cold water 1/3 cup at a time until you have reached your desired consistency. for me, this usually takes about 1 cup of water to achieve a frothy, light sauce. if you want it on the thicker side, do not add as much water.

  2. taste and adjust seasonings, adding more garlic, lemon juice, and/or salt. store whipped tahini sauce in an airtight jar or container in your refrigerator for up to 7-10 days.

ingredients

  • 1 cup tahini paste

  • 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 2/3 cup - 1 cup cold water

SUMAC-ROASTED VEGGIES W/ TAHINI YOGURT (+ SOME NEWS!) /  by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

we’re just gonna start with the news, because i’m so excited to finally share it with you! 🎉WE’RE HAVING A BABY!🎉 baby love #2 is on the way, and HE(!!!) is due late this summer!! another little guy will be making us a family of 4 (5, if you’re like us, and count your pup as a child) and while initially i was in a state of shock at the thought of another boy, i am so excited at the idea of he and amesy being best little buds. we thought for sure that it was a girl. i had it all figured out that between both of our immediate families, the siblings have been girl/boy. this will be the first on either side where there are 2 boys. so it just goes to show that genetics only go so far, i suppose.

this pregnancy has been pretty good to me so far. my first trimester was all nausea all the time, but aside from that it was quite easy. and i’m so grateful. i never shared this before, but during my first trimester with amesy i was put on bed rest for about 6 weeks. i had a subchorionic hemorrhage, which is essentially an active bleed in the gestational sac. it was quite sizable and the bedrest was to prevent the hemorrhage from rupturing. it was probably the scariest thing i have ever gone through, but thank goodness amesy made it out of that first trimester, and i went on to have a very healthy pregnancy after that. needless to say, this time around i was was convinced it would happen again (apparently it’s common to have it again if you’ve had it before), but luckily we made it through this first trimester with zero sign of any bleed.

with all the worry of the first trimester aside, my mind is feeling a bit more at peace. we’re beginning to plan some things, some for baby, but mostly for amesy. i’m trying to think of everything i can to make this as easy a transition for him. which has translated to him moving into a big boy bed, starting the beginnings of potty training, and all that fun stuff! but in all honesty, i worried about so much in my pregnancy with amesy, that this time around i’m really just trying to take it all in stride, and just grateful for every day that i get to carry and care for this babe.

so where am i going with all this? and why am i celebrating this news with roasted veg? basically because i haven’t been able to stomach roasted anything for close to 3 months, and i’m finally able to enjoy roasted veggies once again. and more than that, i paired my favorite medley of fresh veg with my ultimate go-to (pregnant or not): dairy-free tahini yogurt. it’s the kind of sauce that you want to pour over everything, sop up with any scrap of bread you can find, or just eat it with a spoon. it’s that good. and if you’re on the other side of the world where it’s still hot and you have a plethora of tomatoes and cucumbers you could make this version that i posted the other day on instagram. like i said, the possibilities are endless with this sauce.

wishing you all a beautiful week ahead!

sumac-roasted veggies w/ tahini yogurt | v & gf

you could use this sauce in so many applications, but my favorite for this time of year is to brighten up roasted winter vegetables. there’s a good bit of punch and tang in the sauce, so it’s the perfect thing enliven winter meals (especially late winter meals). i used baby potatoes, red onion, and a mix of broccoli and romanesco, but feel free to use your preferred assortment of vegetable, you really can’t go wrong.

here are my favorite brands of dairy free yogurt to use here:

print the recipe

| serves 4 |

tahini yogurt

  • 1/3 cup tahini

  • 3/4 cup plant-based unsweetened plain yogurt (preferably greek-style)

  • 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane

  • salt

  • water to thin

sumac-roasted veggies

  • 1 lb. new potatoes or fingerling potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

  • 1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

  • 3 tablespoons avocado oil, divided

  • 3 teaspoons ground sumac

  • salt & fresh ground pepper

  • 1 head broccoli or romanesco (or 1/2 broccoli, half romanesco), cut into bite size pieces

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

  • crumbled vegan feta or mozzarella, to top

method

  1. make the tahini-yogurt. in a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, garlic, a few pinches salt, a few grinds of pepper, and 1 tablespoon water. taste and add more lemon juice, salt, and water if needed. (if you’re looking to smear the bowl with the yogurt sauce, then i would suggest not adding as much water, you want it thick enough for it not to run down the sides of the bowl.) pour the sauce into a lidded jar or container and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

  2. roast the veggies. preheat oven to 400°F, and line baking sheet with parchment paper. in a large mixing bowl, combine the potatoes and onions with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac, and a fat pinches of salt. toss together until everything is even combined. spread the veggies out evenly into the baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes (the potatoes will be lightly golden). while the potatoes and onion are cooking, add the broccoli or romanesco to your mixing bowl, and add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac, and another good pinch of salt. toss it all together until combined. pull the potatoes from the oven, and add the broccoli (or romanesco) to the tray. roast for another 8-10 minutes, until the broccoli (or romanesco) is tender; and the potatoes and onions are lightly browned and edges are crisp.

  3. let the veggies cool slightly while you prepare your bowl. if you’re smearing your bowl with sauce (alternatively, you could serve the roasted veggies with a side of sauce), add half the sauce to a large shallow bowl, and use a large spoon to spread the sauce into the bottom and sides of the bowl,. add the veggies to the center. top with the chopped mint, chopped parsley, and crumbled vegan cheese (if using).

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