Asian Sesame Salad Dressing: Healthy or Not?

Make your own and you can control the amount of oil in it. Here are a few recipes you might want to try:



Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds toasted and ground
* 1-1/2 tablespoons Japanese fish stock
* 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
* 1/2 tablespoon sesame seed oil


Directions

1. Mix together and shake well.

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This is a spicy version:

Ingredients

* 1/3 cup rice vinegar
* 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
* 1/4 cup palm sugar or light brown sugar, or honey
* 1 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
* 1 clove of garlic
* 2 teaspoons Asian chili-garlic paste
* 1 -2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
* 1/2 cup peanut oil or a more neutral oil, such as safflower or vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds


Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredients together with the exception of the 1/2 cup of oil
2. Stir the ingredients with a whisk, and slowly add the oil. This is a very thin dressing, and will separate. Simply shake it before use.

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Ingredients
Sesame dressing:

* 1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
* 1 shallot clove, quartered
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 teaspoons tahini or peanut butter
* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
* 1/2 cup sesame oil

Directions

Add 1 at a time through the feed tube of a running blender, vinegar, shallot, salt, pepper, tahini, and sesame seeds. Leaving the blender running add the oil in a slow thin stream.

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Ingredients
1 cup (250 ml)

- 1 tablespoon sweet rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Juice from 1 fresh orange
- 2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 6 tablespoons organic virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. In a bowl whisk all ingredients together except olive oil and sesame seeds.
2. Add olive oil by continuing to whisk mix while pouring in at a steady stream.
3. Mix in sesame seeds.

Oh goodness, I'm not much of a cook and that recipe contains some ingredients I have never even heard of. Tahini? Shallot clove?
Plus, I have never seen roasted ground sesame seeds anywhere.
Or at least not in 97806 stores in my city.

I've been looking for whole flaxseed, not ground, for several months already, and that is not to be found. So I doubt I would ever find roasted ground sesame seeds.

But thank you for the tips!

What does the back of the label say?

Any health food store should have whole flaxseed. It's in their refrigerator. It needs to stay cold so it doesn't lose nutrients. You have to grind them or chew them well or your body cannot get the benefits of the oil.

For toasted sesame seeds - just buy sesame seeds and put them in a heated heavy bottomed pan with a little oil. Move them around with a spoon for about 3 minutes, don't let them burn. Voila! toasted. Works for any seed or nut.

Tahini is the same as sesame paste. Again, go to a health food store and just ask. It's usually near peanut butter, but some places put it in the baking aisle.

Shallots - Almost all grocery stores have them. They look like small red onions, but are twice the price. You've been eating them for years if you go to decent restaurants. Good chefs prefer shallots over onions. Much better flavor and they have a little garlic flavor to them. You can use red onions if you don't want to spend the extra money for shallots.

Don't be a slave to Big Agra. Biz., they love it when people think they can't cook. Anyone can cook with a little knowledge. Why pay big prices for inferior food. Learn to make processed food yourself with really good ingredients and you'll save money and be eating less chemicals.

Goodness...where do you live?

I'd try health food, or organic food, shops before you give up on tahini (which is just ground sesame seeds...the oil goes to the top, by the way, so you can use less of it...I'd save it, though, for other salad dressings and such) and whole flax seeds.

I live in what is, by US standards, if that is where you live) small, and I can get those ingredients anywhere.

Shallots are way common, too...but you could use spring onion bulbs instead.

I'd think almost anything would be healthier than ranch dressing!!!!

Snap!

Rad, I live in Bumphuk and I can get all of those things in my local supermarket. Get thee to the grocery and hunt. You'll find them. If not, ask.

Oh, thank you for the explainations..
And I didn't say I absolutely can't cook.. I love cooking, but I stick to simple things, such as mashed potatoes with gravy and salad, or a rice with bell peppers and beef (as I made last night) with guacomole and pico de gallo as a side.
I definitely will try cooking the more cuisine-like dishes later on in the future (I actually have several cusine cookbooks which have always intrigued me), but for now I stick to what's quick and easy... and hey, my family and boyfriend love what I make!

Dlowan and Swimpy,
I suppose I do need to "hunt" a little more..
but the thing is that I'm pretty much on my own here..
The people who works at the stores don't know where anything is..
let alone WHAT it is!
Just two days ago, I was at Costco and was looking for a container of dry milk so I could make homemade ice cream in a blender... I searched almost every aisle, it seemed, and asked about 10 different people who work there. The men shrug and say they don't know what it is. The women say they never used it and don't know where to find it.
Well, okay, that may be Costco, you may say, and that grocery stores are not the same.. but actually,
I wanted to buy caramel apples for my boyfriend's 8 year old sister (she is OBSESSED with them, and I wanted to bring her a big bunch of them on her birthday) ... I have seem them at grocery stores, and so that's where I went. After 4 different stores, I gave up. They are usually right near the checkouts, or somewhere near the front, but they were not there. When I asked a worker, they say they are in the produce section. When I check, no they are not. At another store, when I asked if they have any in stock, one guy went to ask another guy, that guy went to ask another guy, and this guy said he'll ask the manager... 30 minutes later (and I really mean 30 minutes later), he comes back and says, "Umm... I don't think we have them.. I don't know...?"
And I live in California... by the way. I have no idea what they do there if they don't know where anything is and what it even is.
So... I will go out on my own to search for these things, someday, when I have a few hours in store.... *sigh*

22% fat, 130 calories per tablespoon...
I suppose that is a lot when you consider that I use it in salad almost every day....?

You don't use a tablespoon, though, do you?

All fats are going to be the same - about 8 calories/gram. Protein and carbohydrates will be 4 calories/gram.

Calories yes...health impact no.

Why would I talk about something so unfamiliar as that.

Because I would?

I live in a town of 2000 people. i can buy tahini paste and sesame seeds at the supermarket.
Shallots are available but i generally use spring onion.

Actually, fats are 9 calories/gram. You're definitely correct about protein and carbs, see:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/reference_calorie.asp

Oh and alcohol is 7 calories/gram (see the same reference).

RAndR -- if you want to, talk to us about what you'd like to cook. Lots of people here with really interesting recipes.

I make BIG salads. And eat them completely. And often.

Yeahhh, I don't worry about the calories as much as whether it's good for my body or not. I'm not on a diet and I definitely don't want to lose weight; I just want to make sure that I don't turn my salads into a greasy, worse-than-French-fries-with-double-meat-double-cheese-plus-bacon-fast-food-meal.