Lemon Tahini Dressing

Jar of tahini dressing

Most days, I eat a salad for lunch, but when the weather gets cold, I find my body reacts better to warm foods. A few winters ago I was having some digestion issues. My doctor recommended I stopped eating salads for a while and instead have some lightly steamed veggies. This did the trick, so from then on I've tried to give up lunchtime meals of salad for the winter months. This shouldn't be that hard to do since there are so many options - soups, veggies and grains, etc., but I struggle with it a bit since I get into a good routine of preparing salads. I also keep a stock salad dressing ingredients in my desk drawer. I did finally purchase a couple of different containers for transporting soup to work. This helps a lot because in the past, I've had several messes by the time I got to the office, or just didn't bring soup because I was too nervous about it.

Recently for lunch I brought some quinoa with steamed veggies and lemon pepper tofu. I then squeezed lemon all over the top and sprinkled it with sesame seeds. It was fine, but was lacking some oomph. Then, as if my my food prayers were being directly answered Meaux Marie posted this lemon tahini dressing that was exactly the thing I was looking for. I had it this week over quinoa, steamed broccoli and carrots, and then sprinkled some dried cranberries on it. This makes for a tasty and satisfying lunch. Plus, the dressing can't be easier to make. I used a mason jar to make it in and then left the jar of it at work so I had a few days worth of lunches. I'm going to try baking some tofu in it and see how that goes. I'll report back. If you want Meaux's full recipe, here's the link to her blog: http://thevegandelicious.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/quinoasteamed-veggies-with-lemon-tahini-sauce/#comment-248

Lemon Tahini Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tspns tamari soy sauce
4 tblsns tahini
juice from one lemon (or more to taste)

1.  In a jar add all the ingredients and shake vigorously.