What in the world is...Tahini

Oh tahini how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

But what IS tahini, anyway?

Tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds. That explains why it has such a lovely nutty taste!

By now you probably know I'm half Lebanese. I know it's something I talk about a lot, but what can I say! I'm proud! We Middle Eastern people sort of rule in the food department. And one of our tastiest culinary masterpieces is hummus (on a side note, it's not pronounced "ha mus" it's "hoom mus").

Oddly enough (and don't tell my grandmother...) my favorite hummus recipe hails from Barefoot Contessa. Although my go-to recipes are almost all entirely vegan, I still dip into her cookbooks for inspiration. Here is Ina's fantastic hummus recipe, altered by yours truly:

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves (I USE TWO!)
• 2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)(FRESH LEMONS ONLY!)
  
• 2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas
• 8 dashes hot sauce (SO COOL! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?)
  

Directions

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Veganmama note: If it's too thick, go ahead and thin it out by using liquid from the chickpea can, one tablespoon at a time.