Steamed veg with tahini sauce / stock / curry / hummus

Friday evening for a quick dinner made steamed veg with tahini sauce - steamed some broccoli and leeks (mmm steamed leeks), then made a sauce like this:

4 tbsp tahini
juice of 1 lime
2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, soft parts finely chopped (optional)
1 spring onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp tamarind paste

Mix all of the above together until smooth-ish, then add water to desired consistency.  For a really quick / clean hands version mix tahini, tamarind, sweet chili, soy and a little rice vinegar.

Serve the sauce on the side with the steamed veg.  I did this once before with soft tofu chopped and mixed with the steamed veg, and toasted sesame seeds on top.  I really like this sauce, and it goes really well with the steamed veg.  And the whole thing is really quick to make.  A variation on this.


Sunday was time for a clear out of the fridge.  Found some tired veg in there, so made veg stock out of sprouting onions, kale stems, floppy celery, old fennel, slightly yellowing parsley, dried-out thyme and a few carrots.  Also soaked and cooked some chickpeas and then used them and the remaining kale stems to make chickpea potato kale curry, with purple potatoes this time, which looked really colourful and fancy.  Froze stock and remaining chickpeas.

Lastly, I used some of the chickpeas to make hummus:

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
3 tbsp tahini
juice of 1/4 lemon
1.5 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
piece of garlic the size of a chickpea
liquid from chickpea cooking (enough for a good consistency)

Put all the ingredients into blender cup and whizz until smooth.  Add more cooking liquid until your favourite consistency is reached.

The ingredients listed above give a good, basic hummus.  I like adding in other bits and pieces to make it more interesting and more unique.  For example, using lime juice or tamarind instead of lemon juice; adding coriander or basil or parsley; adding pesto; adding pitted olives; holding back some whole chickpeas to sprinkle on top; adding ground spices such as cayenne, paprika, coriander seed, cumin; adding sundried tomatoes or caramelised onions...  One variation example is: carrot and cumin hummus.