It is Recipe Swap time again. Christianna of Burwell General Store has paged through her vintage cookbook and arrived at a lovely lemon sponge cake recipe for us. We have taken a few months off from the swap and are back and ready for action. The second I saw 'lemon' in the title I was happy. We have been having warm summer weather in Seattle for the past week and anything lemon sounded refreshing.
I spent this whole weekend doing as many outdoor activities as possible, like walking to brunch to meet the girls, going hiking at Discovery Park with M, driving with windows down to Alki beach, climbing aboard T's boat all day yesterday, and taking a swim in Lake Washington. I couldn't ask for a better weekend. When I got home from the boat yesterday, it was still pretty toasty outside and inside the apartment. So I leaned toward creating a recipe that didn't involve turning on the oven.
One of my coworkers recently recommended the cookbook 'Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume' to me because I tend toward Mediterranean-inspired cooking. After paging through her copy, I immediately ordered one for myself. All the pictures are vibrantly inspiring, so I sat with a cup of coffee yesterday morning looking for a lemon-based recipe.
Tahini is one of those ingredients I always forget about, but love when I have it. It feels like a big commitment to buy a whole jar of it. But now with my newly remodeled apartment, a stack of new cookbooks, and a nice summer breeze wafting through the apartment, I am encouraged to discover new ways to incorporate it into my cooking. Which also means more dinner parties to be added to the calendar. Thanks Christianna for giving us a nice lemony platform to start our week!
Lemon Tahini Spread
Makes about 1/3 cup
Inspired by Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume
Serve alongside pita bread or whole wheat tortillas, cucumber slices, and olives for a rich and creamy addition to the appetizer plate. Sprinkle with fresh herbs for a nice color and flavor.
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
1 pinch black sesame and white seeds
Place all the ingredients except the sesame seeds in a small food processor; blend until smooth. Garnish with sesame seeds.
