back to blogging, in a creamy tahini-lemon dressing

I've decided to give this whole blog thing another stab. When I started, approximately one million bottles of sriracha ago, blogging was a whole different thing. We didn't even have facebook! I just had to TELL people to read it!! I've always missed having a place to write, which I love, about cooking, which I love even more.

I feel like blogging fell out of style and is making a baby resurgence, so I'm going to try it again. Every Tuesday, rain or shine. In the meantime you can always check out my tumblr and/or instagram links to the left.

Looking back through ye olde food blog, I seem to constantly be on a food journey. I've been a vegetarian, a pescatarian, a flexitarian, and a dainty little carnivore. These days I'm roughly "sometimes" gluten-free and "mostly" dairy-free. The bottom line is that I have always wanted what I want when I want it, as long as it doesn't make me too fat. That's the dream, right?

In my attempts to go dairy-free, I've finally perfected my favorite "creamy" salad dressing. I've had several friends ask for the recipe, and now I'm obliging.

Caveat emptor: I always cook and prepare in VERY broad strokes (partly because I wait too long to eat, get super HANGRY and have to make do with what's in front of me at that very moment, but mostly because I am very, very bad at following directions). So keep in mind when I give YOU directions, you are allowed and encouraged to riff on them how you please.

kale with white beans, quinoa, and a leftover dill/caper/parsley relish

I prefer to build my salad dressing in the bottom of a large stainless steel bowl. It's easier to whisk and then I can make the salad on top, thus dirtying one less dish. Since my dishwasher is my two hands, I always prefer to use as few utensils as possible.

Start with a large spoonful of tahini. If you're not familiar with tahini, it's basically ground sesame seeds. It's thicker than oil, but thinner than a nut butter. It's most often used to make hummus. Here in the city it's at any corner market, but if you haven't seen it before, check the ethnic section of your grocery store.

I add the juice of one lemon, one garlic clove, microplaned, a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and a pinch of Maldon sea salt, and whisk in extra virgin olive oil to the desired consistency:

It's perfectly creamy, and coats all manner of things in the best, exquisitely clingy way. I most often have kale around these parts, but you can put it on anything you like.

raw kale, roasted brussels sprouts & broccoli, pre-cooked chicken

Ingredients:
1 TBSP tahini
1 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, microplaned
1 pinch hot chile flakes
1 pinch good sea salt
olive oil

Tools:
large stainless steel bowl
microplane
whisk

Directions:
Add first 5 ingredients to bowl. Whisk in olive oil to desired consistency.