I’m grateful for my experience with Macrobiotics over two decades ago. It was that way of cooking and eating that introduced me to foods that were foreign to my limited standard Amerian palate.
The Macrobiotic diet, as you may know, was also pretty low in fat.
Enter… sesame tahini.
Sesame tahini is, you guessed it, made from ground sesame seeds. It’s rich in nutrients, good fat and has anti-cancer properties.
“Sesamin and sesamol — the two major antioxidants in sesame seeds — have been studied extensively for their anticancer potential. They both may promote the death of cancer cells and slow the rate of tumor growth. In addition, they are thought to protect your body from free radical damage, which may decrease your risk of cancer.” (1)
I used to put tahini on EVERYTHING!
Not necessarily for its anti-cancer constituents, but because I was seriously craving fat. Sometimes, I would grab a spoon and eat a half a jar in one sitting.
Now… I know that eating that large a quantity of tahini in one sitting is definitely NOT healthy and could counteract all of its health-promoting properties by congesting the liver (after all… it is a sticky fat). “Everything in moderation,” as George Ohsawa used to say.
So, here is a healthier way to eat a moderate amount of tahini, reap its healing benefits, and enjoy all of its deliciousness.
You can drizzle this dressing on a salad, vegetables, chicken, meat, grains, beans, bread…. anything and everything.
Enjoy!
- ¼ cup roasted sesame tahini
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp. tamari
- 1 tbsp. umeboshi vinegar
- 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup water
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- Put the tahini, lemon juice, tamari, umeboshi vinegar, and garlic into a food processor or blender.
- Turn the processor on and slowly add the water to thin the dressing. If you like an even lighter dressing, add more water.
- Finish with a dash of cayenne pepper.
(1) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tahini-benefits#section7
Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker and Herbalist. Named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, she is also a recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness the body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
