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Wellspent MarketfounderJim Dixonhas been writing about food and restaurants for Willamette Week for a long time. He wants our readers to eat well, and he shows them how with the recipes he creates just for us by using simple cooking techniques and easy-to-find ingredients.
There are many variations of green tahini, but it’s basically a Mediterranean-style salsa verde with added tahini. And like more traditional tahini sauces, the green version is incredibly versatile. Spoon it over grilled chicken or almost any other meat or slather some into a pita with felafel or felafel-adjacent fritters. Most of the time I use it to flavor simply cooked vegetables.
You do need a food processor to make it easily, but they’re easy to find and usually cheap at thrift stores. And I know there’s at least one person here in Portland who sells refurbished Ciusinarts on Craigslist.
Recipe
1 bunch cilantro, including the stems
3-4 cloves garlic
½ cup tahini
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 jalapeno chile, optional
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar*
2-3 tablespoons water
Kosher-style sea salt to taste
*The volume and acidity of juice from a single lemon is often not enough to give this the requisite level of brightness. Taste before adding any vinegar.
Cut the cilantro bunch into thirds to make it easier to blitz. Put all the ingredients into the processor and blitz until smooth. Add water a tablespoon at a time if you want it thinner.
