Recipe: Steamed Asparagus with Taratoor and Olives

Recipe Source (Taratoor): Hamady, Mary Laird.  Lebanese Mountain Cookery.  David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc., Jaffrey, 1987 p. 59

First, you're reading that correctly, and no, I didn't misspell that.  Tartar is a thick, icky, nasty sauce that looks suspicious, smells worse and is often served with fried fish.  Maybe there is someone out there who is making it in a way that isn't repulsive, but I personally always associate it with the fish patties that they always served in the school cafeteria on Fridays during Lent in my heavily-Catholic hometown.  You know the ones I'm talking about: perfectly square patties, no discernable species of fish, no discernable taste of the sea either.  They tasted more like Carton-O-Frying-Oil, the kind that came in the huge vat.  Taratoor, on the other hand, is a very tasty Lebanese sauce made from tahini, lemon and garlic.  I suppose you could serve it with fried fish if you really wanted to, although for my sake please use a fish you can identify.  And one that tastes like fish.  You can also use it on poultry, on vegetables, as a dip, or as a base for a certain chickpea dip we all know and love.  The lemon and garlic cut through the heavy taste of a lot of fried food, but since we don't do much frying around here we use it with steamed vegetables.  I suppose you could even give yourself a facial with it; I'll leave that up to you.  I won't ask if you don't tell. 

I decided to use this versatile sauce with asparagus.  I wanted to use taratoor specifically to help satisfy the Lemon Craving, and lemon and asparagus are a classic match-up.  While we've been doing a lot of grilled asparagus lately, it seemed a shame to fire up the grill just for a side dish.  I therefore steamed the asparagus instead.  I did make a couple of changes from the original recipe.  I increased the amount of lemon and the amount of garlic.  The amount of tahini may have been a little scant; I used every last bit in the jar and hoped that it came out to half a cup.  It did come out quite thin, possibly because I used more lemon than was considered necessary, and I was okay with that.  I added the olives at the last minute; I thought that they would add some visual interest as well as intensifying the lemon flavors.  This is an extremely easy recipe.  The taratoor sauce makes 2 cups; save the second cup and use it for something else.  Salad dressing, perhaps. 

Steamed Asparagus with Taratoor and Olives (serves 4; approx. $1.67/serving)

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup lemon juice

1 bunch asparagus

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

Equipment:

• Blender
• Steamer (I prefer the cheap bamboo steamers you get at the Chinese grocery; they catch fire a lot but I find them easy to use.) 
• Saucepan, unless using an electric steamer.

1. In your blender, puree the garlic and the salt. 
2. Add the tahini and blend. 
3. Drizzle the water in slowly with the blender still running.  (If your blender will not accommodate this, go ahead and add it all in one go.  The texture won't be as great, but it's better than the alternative.)
4. Add the lemon juice. 
5. Set the sauce aside until ready to use. 
6. Wash your asparagus.  If necessary, trim any woody ends. 
7. Bring some water to a boil in the saucepan, if using. 
8. Put your asparagus into the steamer basket.  Place over the boiling water and steam until cooked to your liking. 
9. Arrange on the serving plate.
10. Drizzle 1 cup of the sauce over the asparagus.
11. Sprinkle the olives over the top and serve. 

Technorati Tags: Recipes,Middle Eastern food,Lebanese food,taratoor,vegan recipes,vegetarian recipes,asparagus,olives,lemon

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Comments

[Peter]

Jessica, a tartar sauce made from scratch is quite good (as long as the fish is fresh too).

Tarator is a little different an appears in many Mediterranean cuisines. We make a Tarator chilled cucumber soup...garlicky but delish.

Here, you have the Lebanese using their favourite Tahini.

[Coffee and Vanilla]

Sounds good.... I would love o try it!
Margot

[aria]

'Tartar is a thick, icky, nasty sauce that looks suspicious, smells worse' hahaha i'm cracking up. ashamed to say i like it too even with nondescript fried fish. send help!!

taritoor sounds lovely, i needed this reminder to buy tahini i love it and its been so long...

[Ally]

This sauce sounds fabulous! I love how you paired it with the asparagus, I'm going to have to save this one!