Sweet Potato Salad with Tahini Dressing

This recipe for Sweet Potatoe Salad with Tahini Dressing is insanely healthy and delicious. It takes about 30 minutes to make or even less. Definitely, interesting flavors combine. You can add just about anything you like to your salad. Your fantasy can be the boss. The greens you will choose, the filler you will add. I am a fan of salads full of many flavors and many textures. This is definitely on my summer rotation meal plan list.

What is Tahini?

Tahini is the Arabic name for ground sesame seeds. Tahini can be served as a dip or as a component for other dishes. The sesame paste has kind of an oily surface with a peanut butter-like texture. Tahini is made by grinding sesame seeds into a smooth paste. Sometimes the sesame seeds are hulled, sometimes they’re left unhulled; sometimes roasted, sometimes raw. My favorite way to use tahini? Definitely this tahini dressing!

The history of Tahini

References to tahini paste can be found as far back as the 13th century.

Often called sesame butter, the product of toasted ground sesame seeds came to Israel via ancient Persia, where it earned the title of “holy food.” As per its nobility, sesame and its products like oil and tahini remained the domain of aristocracy for centuries, and its popularity spread throughout India, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The ancient Greeks used sesame as food as well as in the production of medicine. Hippocrates is said to have praised sesame for its high nutritional value

Tahini is found in Israeli, Middle Eastern, African, Chinese, Japanese, Iranian, Turkish, and Korean cuisines. Tahini was used as a source of oil at one point. It began to appear in the United States in the 1940s in health food stores.

The Best way to Use Tahini

Middle Eastern cuisine uses tahini as a sauce or mixes it with other ingredients to make other sauces and dishes. Often it is garnished with garlic and lemon juice. A paste made from ground sesame seeds, it’s often blended into classic dips, such as hummus and baba ghanoush.

Is tahini healthy?

Tahini is a tasty way to add powerful antioxidants and healthy fats to your diet, as well as several vitamins and minerals. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and its health benefits may include reducing risk factors for heart disease and protecting brain health.

If you suspect that you may have an allergy to sesame seeds, avoid eating tahini. Tahini is rich in omega-6 fatty acids.

Let’s get cooking

This tahini dressing is versatile and goes with a wide variety of salad ingredients. You can craft your own salad the way you love. This tahini dressing is luxuriously creamy yet plant-based (no mayo!). It’s a fun alternative to your standard vinaigrette.

Gather all your ingredients. Start with boiling your sweet potato or, if you choose, butternut squash. The best is to get it to cook the night before and store it in the fridge and roast it right before adding it to the salad. I like to put a warm sweet potato into my salad. You can use cold as well. Honestly, I never have two salads the same when I make it. If you prefer honey over maple syrup, add honey instead. You do not like sour dressing, add little orange with the lemon.

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Tahini Dressing

A creamy, rich sauce of tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, and maple syrup! Add garlic or salt for extra flavor.

In a mixing bowl, add tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup and olive oil. If adding salt and garlic, add now (optional).

Whisk to combine. Then slowly add water until creamy and pourable. The mixture may seize up and thicken at first, but continue adding water a little at a time and whisking until creamy and smooth. Taste your dressing, and if you need to add a little bit more.

Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more lemon juice for acidity, salt for saltiness, or maple syrup for sweetness.

• 1/3 cup of Tahini
• 1 medium lemon, juiced (use fresh juice)
• 1 small orange for sweet flavor (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 1 clove garlic – minced (optional)
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 3-6 Tbsp Water to thin your dressing. I usually eyeball my thickness.

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Salad

Start with a bed of greens. Use your favorite greens or what you have on hand. My favorite is kale mix from Costco. Sometimes I mix arugula with spinach or just plain lettuce mixed with baby spinach. The greens are up to you.

• 5 cups greens of choice

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Cut cherry tomatoes in half and toss them over the greens. Ground cherry (golden berry) brings a little sweetness to your salad. I buy mine in Trader Joe’s. It is super easy to grow, and during summertime, you can grow your own. Don’t forget to add your diced cucumber as well. If I have peppers on hand, I do add those as well. I like the crunch of a pepper.

• 1/2 cup of ground cherry (golden berry)
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup of cucumber
• Pepper (optional)

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Now you can add roasted red Potatoe/butternut squash. They do not need to be roasted at all, but I does give them some extra crunch. If you do roast, sprinkle little salt and pepper over and drizzle with olive oil. They need about 15 minutes at 400F in the oven.

• 1 medium size sweet potato diced or about a cup of butternut squash

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Lastly, drizzle with your delicious Tahini Dressing. Top with some good salty feta cheese and if you are a fan of avocado, add avocado. Ripe avocado brings a nice creamy texture to this loaded salad.

• 1 medium ripe avocado
• 1/3 cup of feta

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Enjoy your Sweet potato salad with Tahini Dressing!!

Suppose you wonder who inspired this delicious recipe. You can find it here. Minimalist Baker is the name of a blog. She makes delicious meals. I have tried a couple of her recipes and loved them all!

Cooking tips:

• You can add protein to this salad as well. Grill chicken breast would work great.
• You can switch sweet potato for butternut squash as well.
• If you already had potato/butternut squash cooked in the fridge, roast it in the oven till golden. It is delicious.
• If you do have leftovers, cover them with foil and store your salad in the fridge.
• The dressing will stay for 5-7 days in your fridge.

Other easy recipes to try

• Czech Schnitzel – Pork Rizek Everybody’s favorite in the Czech Republic and of course in my family!
• Easy to make Bacon Dumplings The perfect Gluten-Free side dish to go with Stuffed Peppers.
• Creamy Marsala Chicken Soup Do you have a craving for a different creamy meal? If you love Chicken Marsala, this soup is perfect for you!!!!

Until next time…!

DOBROU CHUT!

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