Sesame seeds are one of my all-time fave raw seeds and are a staple in our house! Soooooo full of healthy goodies and so many yummy things can be concocted with these tasty lil’ guys!
What makes sesame seeds so good? Well for starts they’re chock full of calcium. A mere ounce of them contains 27% of our daily requirement of calcium and 23% of Iron!! (according to nutritiondata.com~ awesome website for quickly and easily figuring out just what is in the foods you eat! A great, great tool for raw-fooders curious about what’s in their fruits, veggies, seeds and more!!) These tasty seeds are laso rich in phosphorous, mangense, magnesium, zinc, and copper (57% dv per ounce!) which is perfect because copper is necessary in the absorption of iron, pretty handy how they just happen to be in there together. Copper also helps balance the thyroid, is essential to producing red-blood cells, fights yeast, and carries oxygen in the blood stream aiding in the oxygenation of our tissues including the brain! *for more info on the many benefits of copper and other vitamins and minerals you can check out healthvitaminsguide.com*
Sesame seed’s naturally high fat content (good raw plant based fats, not the lame kinds that cause unhealthy weight gain) make them perfect for creating rich creamy mylks, dressings, sauces and dips as well as creamy pie-fillings. The most famous of their uses is to create tahini. Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds and usually contains sesame oil as well. It’s delicious on it’s own as a dip for fruits and veggies, can be blended with cirtus juices and various spices to make awesome salad dressings and can also be used as a substitute for peanut butter in many raw-dishes. The stuff you find in the store is usually either cooked or has been heated due to the activity of the grinding machinery. There are some good raw brands available though, such as artisana. But tahini is soooo darn easy to make, you’ll probably just wanna crank some out yourself! Here’s my formula for it~
Soak 1 C of sesame seeeds for about 2 hours and then drain and rinse them thoroughly, this will not only reduce the enyme inhibitors but, also removes much of the bitterness associated with sesame seeds.
Now toss your soaked seeds into the blender along with a 1/2 C of water and a pinch of salt. Blend, blend and blend some more (occasionally stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula) until you’re left with a thick and creamy sesame paste!
This delicious homemade tahini can keep in your fridge for about 4 days in an airtight container, if it’ll last that long! Also for variation you can stir in a lil’ honey or date syrup and you have an awesome dip for fresh fruits. For a chocolate dip, check out my post about my visit to Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe to see the video of my raw version of nutella!
Filed under: recipies | Tagged: bananas, calcium, food, healthy, homemade, living, nutella, raw, rawdawg, rawdog, recipe, recipes, rory, sesame seeds, tahini
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I’m really digging your blogs..I’m going to have to try some of the dressing recipes..thanks for posting them!
Hey man, I gotta tell you, your blog is one of my favorites to read. Keep up the good work
Hi Denise and Pedja!! Thanks for the props on my blog and recipes! Great to hear such positive feedback and I’m glad you’re enjoying my writings! I hope you enjoy the eats! Rawk on~ Rory :0)
I love your website! But I have to say… my tahini didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped… not as tastey as the store bought ones I’ve had in the past. Could I be doing something wrong?
Hi Tleaves! I’m gonna assume you used my recipe. The big difference between mine and store bought is that I soak the seeds prior to “tahini-fication”. This not only reduces the enzyme inhibitors but, also reduces the bitterness of the seeds. This could be good thing if you prefer less bitter but, bitter can be tasty too! So you might wanna experiment next time with either using unsoaked seeds and upping the water amount a lil’ bit, or replacing half the soaked seeds with unsoaked! Also many jarred tahinis contain added sesame oil which affects the taste as well. You can try adding some to your own version! Hope these ideas help to create your ulitmate tahini!~Rory :0) & Thanks for the love on my website!
[...] dip from my video at Catch A Healthy Habit and you could use the homemade tahini recipe from my last post as the base for [...]
Just a thought too….different kinds of sesame seeds will have different flavors. Do you use “white hulled”, “natural brown”, “pre-roasted with or without salt” There are several kinds available thru retail sources. I always order the “natural brown” because Ive been told their (unhulled) shelf life is significantly longer than the hulled varieties and Im a pantry keeper buying in bulk for a large family. I DO pre-soak mine and that brings to MY mind the idea that it’s often just a matter of recognizing that homemade tastes different because ITS BETTER FOR YOU and making that choice to recognize previous ideas as possibly WRONG and then choosing to move on a healthier path in future choices.
Im making a new recipe today…..Zucchini Hummus today w/ homemade Tahini. Found the recipe at http://www.giveittomeraw.com/video/zucchini-hummus
Great posts. Im always inspired to make many new things. Thanks
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Ah thats a good point too Farmschooler! I use the white-hulled sesame seeds and haven’t tried it with the un-hulled ones! I’ll have to give them a whirl in this recipe. :0)
Can you recommend a good place to get a bulk supply of sesame seeds (instead of those teensy bottles/packets)? Love your blog, BTW.
Hey Gabrielle! The first place I would try is any of your local health-food stores that have a bulk room! They usually have them for waaaaay lower prices than the pre-packaged ones and they’re usually a lot fresher! Amazon has a lot of good sources to purchase them buy mail and you can usually get deals on the shipping which saves even more money! An online source I’ve found but, not purchased from (yet!) is http://www.nutsonline.com/ They have pretty good prices on organic sesame seeds! Happy seed hunting! :0)
Hi Gabrielle,
I know it’s been a couple months since you posted this question, but in case you happen back here (or for anyone else reading), I buy mine (unhulled) at Whole Foods for something like $1.99 a pound in their bulk section. Definitely better than those teeny little packages!!