Sesame Galore!
Say “Hello” to our guest blogger Kelly O’Donnell from My Best Food Forward! Kelly is a Licensed Master Social Worker and a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, and we know you will love what she has to share! Take a look…
Sesame seeds and sesame oil are used for cooking, as well as traditional medicines, for their nutritive, preventive, and curative properties. Sesame seeds are important sources of omega-6 fatty acids, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and dietary fiber. They are great for cardiovascular health and cholesterol lowering due to their oleic acid, folic acid, and niacin.
There are so many ways to get sesame into your diet. Sesame oil is one of my favorite oils for cooking. It has a high smoke point and adds a wonderful flavor to food. Tahini is sesame paste, which has the consistency of peanut butter. It is used to make hummus, dressings, and sauces. (See recipes below). And of course sesame seeds – sprinkle them on asian noodle dishes, veggies, kale chips, anything!
Simple Sesame Recipes
Hummus
Ingredients:
2 cups canned chickpeas, or 1 cup of dried chickpeas that have been soaked, then cooked
1-3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup or more water, use chickpea water
Directions:
- Place all ingredients in a blender or food mill and purée until creamy. It is easier to do it in several smaller batches.
- Add more garlic, tahini or lemon juice to taste.
- Serve with pita bread, crackers or crudités.
* Add other ingredients as desired such as roasted red peppers, jalapeños, cilantro, etc.
Tahini Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
pinch of cayenne (to taste)
Directions:
- In a bowl briskly whisk together the tahini and water until combined. It will look separated at first: just keep whisking.
- Add remaining ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Adjust flavors to your taste. Add additional water if you want it thinner.
*drizzle over greens, use as a salad dressing, over pasta, or as a stir fry sauce.
Keep reading for more great thoughts from Kelly!
Have you ever noticed that everything in nature finds a way to thrive when faced with seemingly unbearable challenges? I mean, just look at that tree! When faced with a challenge the tree doesn’t “overthink” it, the tree doesn’t “complain” about it, the tree does not “have anxiety” about it. The tree just looks for a way to thrive and takes action.
Every living thing in nature has an innate creativity.
We are also part of nature, and we have the same innate creativity. But we have one thing working against us – our big brains. We overthink everything. We distort reality and create bigger problems in our heads. We even do things to harm ourselves when faced with challenges (overeating, abusing drugs and alcohol, complaining, allowing thoughts to spiral into depression, watching tv to escape – the list goes on and on.)
So what is a big brained human to do? The key lies in your emotions. Many of us have been taught to numb our emotions, ignore them, suck it up, keep a stiff upper lip! This is terrible advice! The word emotion comes from the Latin word emovere, which, at its core, has the word “move”. Emotions stir something physical inside of us that makes us want to move or take action. I believe that our emotion is that innate drive for creativity. It is our nature. We shouldn’t deny it, we should let it move us! Emotions serve an important purpose – so why have we decided, culturally, that it is better to ignore emotions?
Think about this woman (we all know her). She wants to lose weight, she hates her job, and she is stressed out from work. She has been depressed for years and is on antidepressants. Every night she gets home from work and is exhausted. She makes something quick to eat, turns on the tv, and spends the rest of the night sitting on the couch. Every day she feels horrible about herself and thinks about “what a loser she is”, and “how lazy she is”. She tells herself constantly that “there is no way out”, “it is too late for her to change”. We all can see that this is a downward spiral. If she would stop thinking and start doing things would begin to change.
She can easily state what she should do differently – eat healthy, exercise, don’t turn on the tv, look for a new job, etc. But she doesn’t take action. She just thinks, and thinks, and thinks. It is that big brain getting in the way. If, at the first sign of dissatisfaction, she would have listened to her emotions and taken action it would have been much easier. It would not have spiraled out of control with overthinking, depression, pills, and overeating.
We are part of nature and have innate creative ability! Believe in it! Do not overthink things. Be honest with yourself about your emotions. Most importantly, act on them without overthinking!