Roasted Tahini and Onion & Thyme Jam

These two condiments are on my "always-have-in-the-fridge" list lately because they are uber tasty, convenient, and I know what's in them. So many commercial products are packed with unnatural additives that I don't really want to put in my body, so it feels great using something that I know is clean and natural.

Both the tahini and onion jam are incredibly versatile and are wonderful to add to savoury rice dishes, soups, to drizzle over roast vegetables, or even to spread on toast for a quick snack. I sometimes even heat the tahini with a little xylitol to make a halva type sauce to use over my homemade ice cream.

Also, with the Festive Season approaching, these make adorable gifts for family and friends. Go on, give a vegan gift and spread the deliciousness!

For the Roasted Tahini

Ingredients:

250g sesame seeds
1 - 1 1/2 cups olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C. Place the sesame seeds evenly on a large oven tray and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. When they are golden brown (keep an eye on them so that they don't burn), remove the tray and allow to cool.

Pour the seeds into a blender and add enough olive oil to almost cover the seeds. Blend at high speed until it forms a runny-ish paste, adding more olive oil to get it moving if necessary. Your blender might struggle a little, I blend mine in intervals and use a spoon to scrape the sides in between.

Store in a clean glass jar in the fridge. Should last for at least two weeks, if you can manage to not eat it for that long.

For the Onion and Thyme Jam

Ingredients:

4 large white onions
1 small beetroot
4 tbs olive oil
20g fresh Thyme
1/2 cup dried currants
1 cup brown sugar or xylitol
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 generous pinches Himalayan salt

Peel the onions and cut in half, and then into thin slices. Place in a large pot with the olive oil salt. Stir thoroughly so that the onions are all coated in oil before heating. Cook on medium heat with the lid on, stirring every few minutes until the onions are translucent - approx 20 minutes. They shouldn't turn brown, so make sure the heat is not too high.

Tip: When cooking onions, adding salt helps to draw the liquids out, making them go soft and translucent more quickly. 

Add the thyme, sugar, vinegar and currants and mix. Peel the  beetroot, cut into quarters and add to the pot. The beetroot is just for colour and will be removed later. Using purple onions would have the same effect, but I only had white onions in the house at the time.

Another tip: Picking thyme leaves can be quite tedious and finicky. I put the whole bunch into a large bowl of water and scrub it together until a lot of the leaves come off. I then take the bunch of twigs out with my hands and pour the water through a sieve to catch the little leaves. Repeat a few times until you get most of the leaves off. You may still have to strip some of the twigs to get the last leaves off, but if you don't feel like the effort, you can keep the twigs in the freezer and add them to a vegetable stock. 

Cook the jam on low heat for two hours, stirring every 10 minutes or so. It is ready when the jam is thick and sticky. Once cooled, store in a clean glass jar. This should also last about two weeks in the fridge.