Shake, Squeeze, and Shout: Mighty Sesame Tahini

Jun 8, 2021 by Chef David

By Chef David

The Mighty Sesame company’s introduction of a shake and squeeze bottle transforms tahini into a table-ready condiment. Using a squeeze bottle dispenser is an ingenious reinvention of a food that deserves its newfound popularity. The thinned content pours easily, making it simple to add tahini to dishes as well as creating an attractive—and healthy—salad-dressing replacement. It comes in three flavors, Harissa Tahini (which I sampled), Whole Seed Tahini, and Organic Tahini. Mighty Sesame also produces Classic Tahini and Tahini bars which come flavored with cocoa nibs, pistachio, and vanilla. Everything they make is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union.

In March 2020, Epicurious magazine rated Mighty Sesame Tahini as the best on the market, as the smoothest, creamiest brand, and they liked its lighter, thinner consistency.

Tahini with Harissa Adds Flavor

Tahini is a paste made by grinding sesame seeds and is a common ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. Its texture is similar to natural peanut butter. Tahini has a warm, earthy-nutty flavor with just an after-tinge of bitterness. 

By itself, tahini can be bland, but the Mighty Sesame Harissa Tahini introduces the distinctive flavor from harissa, a chili paste made by blending roasted hot-red peppers with other spices and herbs, which provides a kick. It was not overly hot, but, rather, gives your food a wonderfully subtle flavor.

Health Benefits

Weighing in with 190 calories for two tablespoons (30 grams), Mighty Sesame Harissa Tahini is low in sodium and contains no sugars, cholesterol, or trans fats. It offers three grams of fiber and seven grams of plant protein, but it’s comparatively low in sodium while being surprisingly rich in calcium (two tablespoons gives you 20 percent of the suggested daily value), iron (10 percent), and even a little potassium (four percent).

Like other seeds, tahini provides health benefits, making it a good source of copper, manganese, phosphorus, thiamine, magnesium, selenium, tryptophan, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folic acid, omega 3, and omega 6, (even though some of the levels are too low to show on the label).

Add Mighty Sesame to Your Recipes

I have experimented using Mighty Sesame Harissa Tahini to enhance the flavors of my go-to recipes, using it to dress my stove-top Brussel Sprouts.  

Stove-Top Brussel Sprouts

• • 1 bag frozen Brussel Sprouts
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Garlic powder, to taste
  • Mighty Sesame Tahini

Add the bag of frozen Brussel sprouts to a stainless-steel pan. Cover and cook on medium heat. Once they are heated through, add black pepper and garlic powder to taste. Remove the cover and continue to cook until firm on the outside. It should take approximately a half-hour to prepare.

They’ll be soft on the inside. Serve immediately drizzled with Mighty Sesame Tahini or refrigerate for later. They taste great hot or cold.