Now that it’s summer and the warmer weather has me craving lighter keto meals, especially simple salads, I’ve been obsessed with this quick and easy, keto friendly lemon tahini dressing.
If you’re living a keto lifestyle you’re going to love this dressing and best of all it’s sugar free, dairy free, grain free and egg free. And it has a good amount of healthy fat to keep you satisfied for hours. In addition to following a mostly plant based ketogenic diet I also do intermittent fasting so salads with this savory dressing keep me satisfied from dinner around 4:00PM to breakfast around 10:00AM the following day. To make it even healthier I use organic ingredients but organic is definitely not required.
I’ve been spending less time in the kitchen these days so I’m keeping it simple when it comes to my salads. I calculated that I was spending a lot on salad ingredients to make more meals at home but then I’d end up throwing a lot away because I didn’t eat it fast enough before it went bad. And then I discovered Panera! Well, I didn’t just discover Panera, but since I really do try to make most of my meals at home I didn’t go there often.
When I adopted the keto lifestyle I started looking for ways to simplify the diet. If there’s too much work involved and too much planning it’s tough to stick with it for the long haul. And at this stage of my life I’m just not as interested in spending as much time in the kitchen as I used to.
I realized that I could order salads and skip the beans, croutons and crunchy, fried won-tons on top and still stay under my max carbohydrate allowance. Sometimes I do eat the dressing they put on their salads (I love the Spicy Thai salad) but more often than not I’d skip their dressing and add this garlicky Lemon Tahini Dressing instead.
LEMON TAHINI SALAD DRESSING
4 ounces (half cup) of tahini
4 ounces extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
2 Tablespoons water (you can add more as needed if the dressing is too thick)
2 or 3 finely minced garlic cloves (if you love garlic you can add more)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a blender (I use a Magic Bullet but any blender will work).
Blend until smooth.
Makes about 1 cup. Refrigerate and use within a week.
This dressing is delicious on a romaine lettuce salad with chopped avocado, shaved Parmesan cheese (omit if you’re dairy free) and some matchstick cut carrots for a little color, crunch and sweetness to compliment the savory flavors in the dressing. Top with grilled chicken for extra protein.
Enjoy! I hope you love it as much as I do.
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