Tahini time! (No, I'm not talking about bathing suits)

THURSDAY'S DINNER (a little behind on posting, I know):

Tahini Pasta with Spinach Salad $0.72

I should warn you. If you don't like garlic you might want to move past this meal and try something else.

So last Thursday I wanted pasta for dinner. But I didn't want red sauce. I also didn't want cream sauce. What to do? Search the fridge and get creative. I found a tub of tahini (sesame seed paste--the stuff that's in hummus that gives it that nutty flavor) and decided that might make a good base for a pasta coating. I used my gluten-free brown rice pasta (I personally find it disgusting but I eat it since I kinda have to). So I dumped about a 1/2 c of tahini into the warm pasta, added some lemon juice, a clove of minced garlic, sea salt, and a good amount of extra virgin olive oil. I'll be honest in saying that the pasta dish wasn't AMAZING, but it was good. What would have made it really good would have been some marinated artichoke hearts or some capers--something salty. But like I said, I had to get creative with what I had on hand. For the spinach salad, I just added 2 chopped hardboiled eggs, a half of a clove of minced garlic, olive oil, and some red wine vinegar. Here's a tip: when making a vinaigrette, always do a 3 to 1 ratio--never 50/50. So 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. If you want more bite, then add more vinegar to taste. Anyway, some sea salt, pepper, and voila! Dinner is served. With this meal, the vampires won't dare bite, and it won't take a bite out of your budget!