Vegetarian Recipes Using Tahini

[NYCgrrl]

I salt the fresh eggplant to draw out the excess water so it sautees or fries better.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

This is the best vegan burger on the market. Nothing else compares:

https://beyondmeat.com/products/view/beyond-burger

Anna, have you tried May Wah chicken legs? They are to vegan chicken products what Beyond is to vegan burgers, IMO. Crazy realistic. They have a ton of vegan meats/seafoods in their line. The beef chunks are another good one we keep on hand in the house. I’ve never seen their products in stores, we have them shipped directly from the company.

 

[Imzadi]

Here's a super easy Sesame Noodle recipe to make with the Barilla Protein PLUS Pasta. It is a great protein replacement, so you can actually use no/less meat or beans in a dish. It is made with chick peas & other high protein, fiber & Omega 3 ingredients. It tastes like regular pasta, not boiled cardboard. It's the only pasta I eat now.

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray:

Sesame Noodles
(Serves 1-2 people)

**1 tablespoon peanut butter - smooth or crunchy
**1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

(** Alternately, you can use 1 Tbs Tahini & 1 Tbs peanut butter)​

2 tablespoons soy sauce
Pinch cayenne pepper or a squirt of Sriracha sauce for heat, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 pound thin spaghetti, cooked to al dente, drained and cooled
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 scallion, chopped

I also added 2 tablespoons of the hot pasta water to the sauce to thin it a bit and help make it "move" and adhere to the spaghetti instead of staying in a thick glob.

Whisk peanut butter, soy, cayenne, oil and sesame oil. Add noodles and toss to coat. Sprinkle noodles with sesame and scallion to garnish.


I've also had this warm, instead of cooling the pasta. I skip the sesame seeds and just use crunchy peanut butter for extra crunch & texture.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Anna, have you tried May Wah chicken legs? They are to vegan chicken products what Beyond is to vegan burgers, IMO. Crazy realistic. They have a ton of vegan meats/seafoods in their line. The beef chunks are another good one we keep on hand in the house. I’ve never seen their products in stores, we have them shipped directly from the company.

No I've never heard of them. I just checked the site. It looks like I need them. Thanks.

 

[ahutton]

We don't do vegetarian for all meals, but this is a favorite. We have it with humus on the side (made with tahini) and then pita or naan.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/shakshuka-with-chickpeas-3363804#

 

[tarheelmjfan]

the apple a day cookbooks are a great resource. i also reccommend the morningstar and loma linda brands of vegetarian products-very tasty, very good quality. a good resource for a variety of cookbooks is on-line at the adventist book center website.

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'll check out the Apple a Day Cookbooks. We've bought Morningstar products several times mostly for veggie burgers. I'll have to look for the Ioma Linda brand. This is the first time I've heard of that.

I appreciate the Adventist Book Center website suggestion. That's new to me.

Probably the same thing. Looks like ground beef. Some comes seasoned like taco meat, but we always add a little of our own seasoning.
This is one we've bought. Most grocery stores have them, usually in a refrigerated section of the produce. We've bought at Albertsons and Sprouts. Stores that cater to special diets like Lassens will have more variety.

Thanks. I don't think we have any of those stores, but I'm sure we can find it somewhere.

Here is a simple but very flavourful and healthy tahini dressing. Mind you I don't measure anything so you might want to play around with the measurements. 1/4 cup of tahini mixed with at least 1/8 a cup of water or more to desired thinest. Juice of one lemon. One crushed garlic clove and if you have it a good pinch of cumin. Stir together. At first it will be thick and lumpy. Just keep stirring and it will thin out. Add more lemon or water to taste. I keep it in a tightly covered jar in the fridge for about 5 days max.

Next throw quinoa in the rice cooker, or pot, with a teaspoon of vegetable powder.

Roast cauliflower and broccoli florets at 425 F on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (for crispness). I add zero oil. The cauliflower usually takes a bit longer than the broccoli so I throw the cauliflower in first.

In a bowl add roasted veggies on top of the quinoa and drizzle tahini dressing. You can add any other veggies you like. My favourites are cherry tomatoes and shredded raw beets. Tofu marinated in soy sauce, a garlic clove, grated ginger and rice wine vinegar then cubed is delicious for added protein. I also sprinkle hemp seeds over the top.

Be aware that tahini by itself is unpalatable. It needs to be mixed with water and lemon at least.

Look up the this site for excellent and easy vegan healthy recipes:https://minimalistbaker.com/recipe-index/

Thanks for the suggestions. We love quinoa. Your recipe sounds great. I'm definitely going too check out that website. I need all the easy recipes I can find.

Oh just thought of another product we love - Trader Joes vegetable masala burger patties. We eat them on pitas with hummus and cucumber. I'm pretty sure they have other vegetarian products, too. Might be worth looking into if you have one nearby.

Great, thanks! We do have Trader Joe's. I love the easy meal idea. I'll look for other options there too.

 

[NYCgrrl]

You can also find lots of recipes via Google for black bean burgers that take little time to make and are quite tasty with or w/o tahini. We don't eat vegetarian daily, only once or twice a week but rarely eat the same thing twice unless we want to.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

This is the best vegan burger on the market. Nothing else compares:

https://beyondmeat.com/products/view/beyond-burger

Thanks. We have Target & Amazon Fresh. I was especially happy to see we can get them at BurgerFi. We do takeout a lot, when I'm not feeling well. So far our options have seemed extremely limited compared to the variety we're used to.

Every recipe I've ever made from this site has been excellent: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/

Her vegan ribz are a staple in this house for the guys.

Bookmarking that site too. I'm curious to see what the ribz are.

Hummus and cold sesame noodles are all I’ve used tahini in.

Do you have a recipe you prefer for cold sesame noodles?

Roasted broccoli and tahini
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015248-roasted-broccoli-with-tahini-garlic-sauce

https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/06/8-ways-to-use-tahini.html

I like to grate a peeled cuke into tahini, add some plain yogurt and a little lemon to make a dip at times.

You can use tahini to make spicy noodles...think Ina has a recipe over at the Food Network.

Thanks for the suggestions & links. I'll look for Ina's recipe.

 

[tzolkin]

You don’t have to salt very small eggplant, but I thought everyone salted most eggplant.

Everyone I have ever mentioned it to had no idea what I was talking about, so at least in my circles most people do not.

I put the slices on racks, salt both sides thoroughly, let sit for a while to draw out the liquid, rinse a bit (so they’re not super salty), and then dry with paper towels before cooking.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Anna, have you tried May Wah chicken legs? They are to vegan chicken products what Beyond is to vegan burgers, IMO. Crazy realistic. They have a ton of vegan meats/seafoods in their line. The beef chunks are another good one we keep on hand in the house. I’ve never seen their products in stores, we have them shipped directly from the company.

Thanks. It's too bad this brand isn't available in stores, but I'll check out their site.

Here's a super easy Sesame Noodle recipe to make with the Barilla Protein PLUS Pasta. It is a great protein replacement, so you can actually use no/less meat or beans in a dish. It is made with chick peas & other high protein, fiber & Omega 3 ingredients. It tastes like regular pasta, not boiled cardboard. It's the only pasta I eat now.

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray:

Sesame Noodles
(Serves 1-2 people)

**1 tablespoon peanut butter - smooth or crunchy
**1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

(** Alternately, you can use 1 Tbs Tahini & 1 Tbs peanut butter)​

2 tablespoons soy sauce
Pinch cayenne pepper or a squirt of Sriracha sauce for heat, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 pound thin spaghetti, cooked to al dente, drained and cooled
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 scallion, chopped

I also added 2 tablespoons of the hot pasta water to the sauce to thin it a bit and help make it "move" and adhere to the spaghetti instead of staying in a thick glob.

Whisk peanut butter, soy, cayenne, oil and sesame oil. Add noodles and toss to coat. Sprinkle noodles with sesame and scallion to garnish.


I've also had this warm, instead of cooling the pasta. I skip the sesame seeds and just use crunchy peanut butter for extra crunch & texture.

Thanks for the recipe. That sounds great. What do you serve with it?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I always have tahini in the fridge, but really the only thing I use it for is to make hummus (usually once a week or so).

That's something that takes less than 5 minutes if you have a food processor and you can change up the spices and flavors each time. (Our normal/"plain" hummus flavor is pesto, but we have done more buffalo or curry style or added vegetables like roasted red peppers, etc.) We eat it mostly as a snack, but my daughter will often take it to school for a lunch.

We enjoy falafel, but that's a bit labor intensive standing at the stove.


Completely non-tahini related, but since you mentioned any type of cuisine, Eggplant Parm is a favorite in my house. I know Sam's used to sell the frozen breaded eggplant slices, but I haven't been in years so I'm not sure if they still do. If so, that would make this a 5 minute prep time meal.

I prepare up a ton of eggplant at once (I salt/sweat the eggplant first, but I'm sure most people don't. It removes any bitterness.) and cook the breaded slices in the oven instead of frying (so no standing at the stove). So you could do all the prep work sitting down and then just pop the trays in the oven. Once they slices are cooked, I let them cool and bag them up in large freezer bags. When you want to make eggplant parm for dinner, you can just grab a bag from the freezer and layer them in a baking pan with sauce and cheese before cooking in the oven. Very easy and even the kids can throw this meal together themselves.

I mentioned tahini, because I remembered @AnnaFloridaLover posting a few recipes that sounded really good. I was hoping to get her attention, which I did.

I'm actually looking for easy recipes of all kinds. The eggplant parmesan sounds great. That's going on my menu this week. If you have more non-tahini recipes to share, please do.

these masala patties are REALLY good. i agree that tj's has some great vegan options. i like morning star for some of it's items though b/c they work tremendously well as traditional meat substitutes (similar to identical taste/texture). i used to have to make a vegetarian lunch for 30 or so picky eaters once a month (elementary aged kids not all of whom were vegetarian but the school was). i took traditional pasta, chili, soups and other comfort type food recipes and substituted morning star's crumbles for ground meat-the meat eaters thought i had broken the rules.

Meat taste & texture are important to DH, so I'll have to mix it up a bit.

If you have TJ's near you, give their beefless ground beef (crumbles). I used to buy Morningstar until I found these. Again, DD much prefers them.

Thanks. We do have TJ's. I'm putting that on the list to try this week.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Thanks. It's too bad this brand isn't available in stores, but I'll check out their site.



Thanks for the recipe. That sounds great. What do you serve with it?

When I serve spicy/Schezuan noodles I mix the sauced noodles with julienned cukes, jicama, and/or carrots thus making it a complete meal. You can also top the dressed noodles with sliced green onions/scallions using the green part exclusively. Sometimes I put a bed of raw greens like kale or lettuce underneath the sauced noodles to incorporate more dark greens into the dish. I'm glad someone was able to give you an actual recipe since I've ben making this dish for so long I just do it out of my head and frequently use whatever veggies I've on hand.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

If I missed replying to a suggestion, it wasn't intentional. The quote function is giving me a hard time. I really appreciate everyone who has offered a suggestion.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

When I serve spicy/Schezuan noodles I mix the sauced noodles with julienned cukes, jicama, and/or carrots thus making it a complete meal. You can also top the dressed noodles with sliced green onions/scallions using the green part exclusively.

Thanks for the suggestion. We've never tried jicama. This gives us a reason to.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

No tahini in this recipe, but we really love this one:
https://www.cookingclassy.com/red-vegetable-curry/
Cauliflower was never high on my list of vegetables I wanted to eat, but I've found it does have a very hearty meaty texture when cooked in things like this dish. Plus the chickpeas round out the protein.

Good for you on trying the vegetarian thing again ... for me it's really been a very gradual process changing to vegetarian (and I still eat seafood so technically I'm pescatarian). I first felt the inclination to cook more meatless meals probably 10 years ago, and it's only been in the past year that I've completely dropped land animals. I didn't set out this course thinking I would drop meat altogether, just that I wanted to eat less of it. I don't know where my future diet will take me. I guess my point is ... don't worry too much about being all or nothing vegetarian ... sometimes small and gradual changes are more sustainable.

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks for the recipe. That sounds great. What do you serve with it?

The Sesame noodles go well with a simple green salad or a refreshing cucumber salad. The sesame/peanut sauce can be a little heavy on the palate, so something cleansing like a cucumber salad is good.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

The Sesame noodles go well with a simple green salad or a refreshing cucumber salad. The sesame/peanut sauce can be a little heavy on the palate, so something cleansing like a cucumber salad is good.

Thanks, that sounds great. Adding the sesame noodles with cucumber salad to my menu this week.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

No tahini in this recipe, but we really love this one:
https://www.cookingclassy.com/red-vegetable-curry/
Cauliflower was never high on my list of vegetables I wanted to eat, but I've found it does have a very hearty meaty texture when cooked in things like this dish. Plus the chickpeas round out the protein.

Thanks for the recipe. We love curry.

Good for you on trying the vegetarian thing again ... for me it's really been a very gradual process changing to vegetarian (and I still eat seafood so technically I'm pescatarian). I first felt the inclination to cook more meatless meals probably 10 years ago, and it's only been in the past year that I've completely dropped land animals. I didn't set out this course thinking I would drop meat altogether, just that I wanted to eat less of it. I don't know where my future diet will take me. I guess my point is ... don't worry too much about being all or nothing vegetarian ... sometimes small and gradual changes are more sustainable.

Good point. Seafood is the hardest thing for me to give up. Beef is harder for DH. It would be much better for us to cheat on occasion than give up completely, but I'm hoping I can find enough variety to not have to do that. Variety was really the biggest problem for us. Eating seafood or meat on occasion is a better option than abandoning eating vegetarian completely though.

 

[tzolkin]

Good point. Seafood is the hardest thing for me to give up. Beef is harder for DH. It would be much better for us to cheat on occasion than give up completely, but I'm hoping I can find enough variety to not have to do that. Variety was really the biggest problem for us. Eating seafood or meat on occasion is a better option than abandoning eating vegetarian completely though.

I know a few people who have that tick-borne meat allergy and are vegetarians. Their families are vegetarian at home so they don’t have to worry about it, but they will order meat as a treat when they go out to a restaurant.

I suppose it depends on your reasons for being vegetarian, but I could see this as a good option if you just want meat/fish on occasion.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Good point. Seafood is the hardest thing for me to give up. Beef is harder for DH. It would be much better for us to cheat on occasion than give up completely, but I'm hoping I can find enough variety to not have to do that. Variety was really the biggest problem for us. Eating seafood or meat on occasion is a better option than abandoning eating vegetarian completely though.

Or you could each give up meat completely with the exception of the one type you think you’d miss the most and then go from there. So, you would be a pescatarian and your husband would still allow himself to eat beef. When you get to a point where abstaining from the other meats becomes second nature and you realize it’s not difficult to do, the thought of taking that final step to be fully vegetarian might not seem as intimidating.