Vegetarian Recipes Using Tahini

[tarheelmjfan]

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.

Wow, I've never heard of that allergy. We are fortunate that we don't have any allergies.

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.

Great suggestion, thanks.

 

[Imzadi]

I just remembered one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants serves this:

Tarheelmjfan, you mentioned you have health problems yet can sit & chop. Basically this whole meal is chopped and steamed veggies, tofu cubes & dumplings. The dish above has broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, carrots, & bean sprouts. You can add in or swap in broccoli rabe, kale, snow peas, brussel sprouts, corn, etc. Add a side of brown rice (or quinoa for more protein,) and veggie dumplings (or swap in shrimp dumplings for you, beef dumplings for DH, for a treat now & then.)

It all sounds horribly steamed/boiled & bland if it wasn't for the magic ingredient: that condiment cup in the left corner of to die for tahini sauce to drizzle on everything. The restaurant even sells extra homemade containers of just their tahini sauce.


I'm still trying to figure out the recipe. I have a close clone. The magic ingredient is a good quality toasted tahini paste. As AnnaFloridaLover said, a pale, untoasted tahini can be rather unpalatable. Toasted tahini is darker, has a richer flavor and isn't as bitter.

Here is my clone recipe:

1/4 cup toasted tahini paste
1/8 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
water

Whisk all the ingredients together. Add a few drops of water at a time to thin out the sauce to be able to drizzle it over everything. Adjust the salt & soy sauce to taste.

 

[Imzadi]

I have health problems & can no longer spend an hour at the stove preparing dinner. However, I can sit to cut up ingredients, if the cooking time is manageable.

I just want to mention, if some of your health problems are thyroid problems, be careful of eating soy products and/or cruciferous vegetables all the time. Many vegetarians substitute soy products in place of meat, and of course, eat more veggies.

Cruciferous vegetables contain natural chemicals called goitrogens.

Both soy & cruciferous vegetables, (especially uncooked,) can suppress thyroid functioning in those who already have thyroid problems. You can Google many articles about both of these and how they affect thyroid functioning. You can still eat these, just preferably, not daily or in high amounts or uncooked.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I just remembered one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants serves this:

Tarheelmjfan, you mentioned you have health problems yet can sit & chop. Basically this whole meal is chopped & steamed veggies & tofu cubes. The dish above has broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, carrots, & bean sprouts. You can add in or swap in broccoli rabe, snow peas, brussel sprouts, corn, etc. Add a side of brown rice (or quinoa for more protein,) and veggie dumplings (or swap in shrimp dumplings for you, beef dumplings for DH, for a treat now & then.)

It all sounds horribly steamed/boiled & bland if it wasn't for the magic ingredient: that condiment cup in the left corner, of to die for tahini sauce to drizzle on everything. The restaurant even sells extra homemade containers of just their tahini sauce.


I'm still trying to figure out the recipe. I have a close clone. The magic ingredient is a good quality toasted tahini paste. As AnnaFloridaLover said, an untoasted tahini can be rather unpalatable. Toasted tahini is darker, has a richer flavor and isn't as bitter.

Here is my clone recipe:

1/4 cup toasted tahini paste
1/8 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
water

Whisk all the ingredients together. Add a few drops of water at a time to thin out the sauce to be able to drizzle it over everything. Adjust the salt & soy sauce to taste.

Thanks. That sounds great! This is another one going on the menu. I hope I have the right tahini paste. If not, I won't give up. I'll order a different one. Please share, if you think of anything else I should try.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I just want to mention, if some of your health problems are thyroid problems, be careful of eating soy products and/or cruciferous vegetables all the time. Many vegetarians substitute soy products in place of meat, and of course, eat more veggies.

Cruciferous vegetables contain natural chemicals called goitrogens.

Both soy & cruciferous vegetables, (especially uncooked,) can suppress thyroid functioning in those who already have thyroid problems. You can Google many articles about both of these and how they affect thyroid functioning. You can still eat these, just preferably, not daily or in high amounts or uncooked.

Thanks for the warning. As of now, I don't think any of us have thyroid problems. I have rheumatoid & osteoarthritis that have caused a deteriorating spine & bone on bone knees. Unfortunately, that limits the amount of time I can stand to cook. I used to love to cook, but that's not possible anymore.

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks for the warning. As of now, I don't think any of us have thyroid problems. I have rheumatoid & osteoarthritis that have caused a deteriorating spine & bone on bone knees. Unfortunately, that limits the amount of time I can stand to cook. I used to love to cook, but that's not possible anymore.

Can you still sit on a high bar stool? Maybe get some of those new cooking appliances that can just sit on the counter in front of you while you sit. Items like an Instapot, or I saw Airfryers on clearance last week at Target. Both of those are supposed to reduce cooking time and the time watching and stirring foods. I'm (re)watching a movie right now, where someone is cooking hotcakes on an electric griddle on the middle kitchen island, instead of using the stove.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Can you still sit on a high bar stool? Maybe get some of those new cooking appliances that can just sit on the counter in front of you while you sit. Items like an Instapot, or I saw Airfryers on clearance last week at Target. Both of those are supposed to reduce cooking time and the time watching and stirring foods. I'm (re)watching a movie right now, where someone is cooking hotcakes on an electric griddle on the middle kitchen island, instead of using the stove.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd love to find an Airfryer on clearance. I've been thinking about getting one for a long time, but I've been afraid I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost. I need to look into it further.

Unfortunately, bar stools are difficult for me. If I can get everything together & it's only a matter of watching, stirring or flipping, I can leave it to DH. I need to get it to the point where he's only making sure it isn't burning though. He doesn't always pull that off, but that's our only option. At least, he tries.

 

[tzolkin]

Wow, I've never heard of that allergy. We are fortunate that we don't have any allergies.

Yes, it sounded crazy that you could be bit by a tick and wind up with a life threatening allergy (epi-pen, rush to the ER type). But I have met several people with this since I moved to NC.

 

[tzolkin]

Can you still sit on a high bar stool? Maybe get some of those new cooking appliances that can just sit on the counter in front of you while you sit. Items like an Instapot, or I saw Airfryers on clearance last week at Target. Both of those are supposed to reduce cooking time and the time watching and stirring foods. I'm (re)watching a movie right now, where someone is cooking hotcakes on an electric griddle on the middle kitchen island, instead of using the stove.

These are all good ideas.

An electric pressure cooker is great for tossing things in and leaving it to cook without stirring.

When my grandmother was in a wheelchair she used an electric griddle on a low counter for cooking a lot of things since she couldn’t safely use the stove.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Yes, it sounded crazy that you could be bit by a tick and wind up with a life threatening allergy (epi-pen, rush to the ER type). But I have met several people with this since I moved to NC.

What part of NC do you live in? Just curious. I was born & raised in the mountains of NC. My whole family still lives there & I've never heard of it. Regardless, it's a scary thought that a tick bite could cause such a serious allergy. I've had more than a few ticks on me in my lifetime.

These are all good ideas.

An electric pressure cooker is great for tossing things in and leaving it to cook without stirring.

When my grandmother was in a wheelchair she used an electric griddle on a low counter for cooking a lot of things since she couldn’t safely use the stove.

My Mom had a pressure cooker blow up once, so I'm afraid of them. I'm sure the technology is much better now, so it's not as much of a danger.

 

[Imzadi]

Unfortunately, bar stools are difficult for me. If I can get everything together & it's only a matter of watching, stirring or flipping, I can leave it to DH. I need to get it to the point where he's only making sure it isn't burning though. He doesn't always pull that off, but that's our only option. At least, he tries.

I can relate.

Try a timer. It has to be one that is easy to set and has a loud bell, or he won't use it. Alternately, if you have an old cellphone sitting in a drawer, that might work. Just leave it plugged in by the stove, so he can set it for 5 min, 10 min increments, etc.

I have a timer on my toaster oven. It turned stuff off automatically when the time is up. It was great because I'd walk off, watch TV or whatever and forget what I was baking until 10 minutes or so after the timer went off. I couldn't believe how much I relied on it, until the timer died and it won't shut off anymore. Now, I'm over-cooking everything until I get a new toaster oven - definitely with a timer.

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd love to find an Airfryer on clearance. I've been thinking about getting one for a long time, but I've been afraid I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost. I need to look into it further.

The airfryer on clearance is, I think, Target's own brand. So it should be really cheap. Target was clearancing a lot of their "dorm room" and "new to college living" stuff. So that's why the airfryers are marked down.

My Mom had a pressure cooker blow up once, so I'm afraid of them. I'm sure the technology is much better now, so it's not as much of a danger.

That's what those "Instapots" are now. They are digital pressure cookers that one can set, and they have some lock mechanism, so one can't open them prematurely, or supposedly explode. Don't know enough about them, though.

There is always the old crock pots. They don't explode. They come in different sizes too, if you only want to cook sides or sauces in them. There are vegetarian recipes for "5 bean chili," or 3 bean chili, or 7 bean chili online. Basically, they only require opening a bunch of cans of beans, canned tomatoes & adding some spices and letting them cook in a crock pot for a few hours. You can do this on the stove in a stock pot on simmer, if you don't want to get a crock pot.

 

[tzolkin]

What part of NC do you live in? Just curious. I was born & raised in the mountains of NC. My whole family still lives there & I've never heard of it. Regardless, it's a scary thought that a tick bite could cause such a serious allergy. I've had more than a few ticks on me in my lifetime.

Near Winston-Salem.

It’s an issue with Lone Star ticks which are found all over the Southeast. All the articles I have read say it’s becoming more common, so maybe a recent mutation or something?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I can relate.

Try a timer. It has to be one that is easy to set and has a loud bell, or he won't use it. Alternately, if you have an old cellphone sitting in a drawer, that might work. Just leave it plugged in by the stove, so he can set it for 5 min, 10 min increments, etc.

I have a timer on my toaster oven. It turned stuff off automatically when the time is up. It was great because I'd walk off, watch TV or whatever and forget what I was baking until 10 minutes or so after the timer went off. I couldn't believe how much I relied on it, until the timer died and it won't shut off anymore. Now, I'm over-cooking everything until I get a new toaster oven - definitely with a timer.

I try timers, but they're not always totally accurate. DH can be standing at the stove & watch the food burn or go dry & stick. He's totally going by the timer. As I mentioned earlier, he tries, so I occasionally have to chock down burned or dry food with a smile.

The airfryer on clearance is, I think, Target's own brand. So it should be really cheap. Target was clearancing a lot of their "dorm room" and "new to college living" stuff. So that's why the airfryers are marked down.



That's what those "Instapots" are now. They are digital pressure cookers that one can set, and they have some lock mechanism, so one can't open them prematurely, or supposedly explode. Don't know enough about them, though.

There is always the old crock pots. They don't explode. They come in different sizes too, if you only want to cook sides or sauces in them. There are vegetarian recipes for "5 bean chili," or 3 bean chili, or 7 bean chili online. Basically, they only require opening a bunch of cans of beans, canned tomatoes & adding some spices and letting them cook in a crock pot for a few hours. You can do this on the stove in a stock pot on simmer, if you don't want to get a crock pot.

In that case, I think I'll stick to the crock pot. Childhood traumas are powerful memories.

Near Winston-Salem.

It’s an issue with Lone Star ticks which are found all over the Southeast. All the articles I have read say it’s becoming more common, so maybe a recent mutation or something?

That's scary. We had a neighbor in Florida that previously lived in Hendersonville, NC. She got Limes disease there, which she fought for years. Sadly, she passed away way too young from Limes disease complications a few months ago. It was sad to see the affects it had on her body over the years. It was hard for me to believe that they couldn't treat her better, but it ultimately destroyed her organs & took her life.