Grilled Chicken Salad with Tahini

Chopped salad with tahini is probably the most popular salad in Israel. The pieces should be small; that’s the way we like it here. This salad is without exception, being served in every coffee shop in Tel Aviv. Here is a version with chicken breast, which makes it more rich. A perfect and healthy lunch or dinner. If you never tried tahini before you are in for a treat.    

Salad   

4 thin slices of chicken breast

Oil

Salt 

White pepper

4 medium sized cucumbers, chopped      
5 big tomatoes, chopped  
1 big red onion, finely chopped 
A handful parsley, finely chopped 
1 tbs sesame seeds 
1 tbs sunflower seeds 
1 tbs pumpkin seeds 
Olive oil   

Dressing    
1 cup raw tahini 
1 cup water 
Juice from one lemon 
Salt    

Topping: finely sliced red cabbage    

1. Place the chopped cucumber, tomatoes and red onion in a big bowl and mix.   

2. Mix raw tahini and lemon juice in a bowl until combined. Add water until desired thickness. We don’t like our tahini dressing too thick but be careful not to make it to thin. Add water a little at a time. Season with salt.     

3. Season the chicken with salt and white pepper. Put oil in a pan and fry the chicken until it’s well done and has received a nice golden color. Slice the chicken.   

4. Place the chopped mixed vegetables on a serving plate, sprinkle over some olive oil and the seeds, and add the chicken.    

5. Decorate with some finely sliced red cabbage and serve immediately with tahini dressing. 
 
Enjoy!

Tahini sauce/dressing/dip

Tahini dressing is used for almost everything in Israel. If you go to the house of an Israeli family without them having tahini dressing on the table, there is most likely someone that is not from Israel running the kitchen. In the blog you can find several recipes with tahini dressing, and there will be more. It’s good for salads, kebab, humous, sweets, soups, fish, meat, liver, sandwiches, yes, for almost anything. Or just use it as a simple dip with some good bread.

Tahini dressing (base)
1 cup raw tahini
1 cup water
1  lemon
salt
A dash of zatar or sumac (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together until you get your preferred thickness. Season with salt.

Enjoy!

Tahini

Tahini is a very common ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking. In Israel you will not find a single home without a jar of raw tahini in the fridge. It’s most commonly used as a flavouring ingredient in dishes such as humous and baba ganoush, but it’s also frequently used for other dishes with meat, fish and vegetables. We just ate the yummiest soup with eggplant and tahini. The bottom line is, you can use tahini for almost anything.
 
So what is tahini? Tahini is a thick paste made from ground sesame seeds, it has a very strong sesame flavor. Combined with food and sweets its special flavor provides an interesting twist. Tahini might be tricky to find outside Israel. You probably need to go to a well-stocked store or an Arabic store. You can also buy it online. In Sweden Willys carries tahini. If you don’t already have a jar of raw tahini in your fridge, we strongly recommend that you to get one.