Tahini Dip

Well, this is embarrassing.

I feel like that awkward kid in middle school who forgot about the science fair and shows up with a crap paper mache volcano while the girl next to him demonstrates the aerodynamics of her homemade hovercraft.


The source of my shame? I'm not sure if what I have to share with you today is a "recipe" per se. Calling this a recipe would be like calling the directions on a bag of microwave popcorn a recipe. It's THAT simple. But I am still posting in the hope that one day, someone just like me (aka someone craving hummus who is too lazy to go to the grocery store to get chickpeas because it is FINALLY SPRING BREAK goddamnit and I just want to sit on my fire escape in the sun and read the latest issue of World Soccer magazine).... ahem, yes, JUST LIKE ME will see this and think "oh good! Here's what I can do with my lifetime supply of tahini paste."

So here is a non-recipe recipe for Tahini Dip, a rich and creamy creation perfect for those times when you want something a little zestier and thicker than hummus and/or are too lazy to get off your ass and get some chickpeas.

Tahini Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tahini paste
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold water

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Add the cold water, little by little, until the dip reaches the consistency you want. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro/parsley.

Looking at the ingredients you may wonder how this doesn't end up a soupy mess because tahini is pretty runny to begin with. But a weird thing happens when you add the lemon juice- the tahini seizes up and thickens, until it is almost like a coarse dough.


The cold water then counteracts this and brings the tahini back to its creamy consistency.


This dip is pretty good with almost any vegetable. Serve it with pita wedges, bell pepper or cucumber slices, or make a meal out of it by sprinkling with some feta and serving with panfried zucchini. Yum scrum.