My question is not what to do with it, but how to stir the darn thing. Every can I have bought had an inch of oil on top and the rock hard paste on the bottom. I know the separation is natural, but unlike peanut or other nut butters, I have had no luck stirring it whatsoever.

I've been adding to stir-fries of tofu and broccoli. It makes a yummy, calcium rich sauce when mixed with peanut butter and hot water, etc. Extra tasty satay! Also frozen bananas, tahini, rice milk, cocoa or carob powder....nice breakfast smoothie.

Tahini is incredibly versatile. It substitutes all of the usual butter/margarine/oil in this deliciously nutty and rustic pie/galette crust:
Summer Squash Galette

And it can really boost the creaminess and flavor of any sauce or dressing. It works great in this sun-dried tomato and eggplant "alfredo" sauce for example:
Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo</a href>

Yes, using the whole jar is always a quest for me, too! I discovered that you can thin it with a bit of water and use it to dress lightly steamed fish. Or make a nutty, Asian salad dressing that is deep enough in flavour to take on raw broccoli.

But does it really go bad? Provided it stays in the refrigerator, I don't see a problem with having an open jar for a few months at a time.

But these are great suggestions as I only use it for hummus and baba ghanoush myself.

I'd love to know what the trick is to stir it. Much more difficult than natural peanut butter.

Chickpea croquettes! A favorite vegan dish of mine:

Pulse 8 rice crackers in the food processor. Add several sundried tomatoes, a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, 2 garlic cloves, a handful of parsley, a heaping tablespoon of tahini paste, cumin and paprika, and give it all a good whirl until a nice dough is made. Add some oil if too thick, some cornstarch if too mushy. You want a sough that forms nice, meaty patties. Divide into 8 little patties and dust with cornstarch. Lightly fry in a pan. Enjoy!

I put a bit in my oatmeal along with some honey and miso. It's a delicious and savory way to enjoy it.

I use tahini to make a mock Annie's Goddess Dressing that's even better than the original! Here's my recipe:
http://operagirlcooks.com/2010/05/07/tahini-dressing-recipe/

There used to be a vegetarian restaurant here in NYC called Whole Wheat & Wild Berries ( in GB, MA, too...) -- they had a lemon-tahini salad dressing that was to die for -- I'd kill for that recipe!

I keep mine in the refrigerator and always end up using it before it goes bad, but my hummus recipe calls for a decent amount of it.

I stir it with a butter knife that has a really rounded tip - same with my natural peanut butter. Stir it slowly, and if it's really hard on the bottom it takes some time. I find the knife makes less of a mess than a spoon, is longer and gives a little more leverage for scraping the thick part at the bottom.

Make halvah! I have an aversion to most things with tahini in it but I love a good fresh vanilla chocolate swirl halvah. With some whole pistachios or almonds in it for extra texture. And a recipe for one pan of halvah will usually use anywhere from 1 to 2 cups of tahini.

For the above stirring troubles...it really just takes a bit of elbow grease, and a long enough spoon or other utensil so you don't end up getting it all over your hands in the process. I like to use the end of a wooden spoon, dig it all the way to the bottom, then just stir and stir with force. After maybe 10-15 deep and hard stirs, the consistency will be smooth and uniform. Try it out!

I always add a tablespoonful or two to my bean mixture when making veggie burgers.

this recipe is my staple satisfying snack, anyone i have recommended this to has become addicted.
first mash up a ripe avocado, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of tahini, half a tsp cumin, some chopped fresh tomatoes and spring onion, himalayan rock salt, ground pepper, some chopped fresh chili to your taste. eat wrapped in lettuce leaves.
i imagine this would be good on hot toast or pitta breads too, but i can't say for sure.

Wait.. does Tahini need refrigeration?
Mine is sitting in my cupboard..

Freeze it. I measure it out in the most commonly used (for me) measurement and freeze it. Then it's 'at the ready' whenever I need some and it's not at risk of spoiling if I don't use it up in a timely fashion.

@abbie mr, your chickpea croquettes sound wonderful. Thank you for sharing!

Tahini can go rancid like any other nut product or natural oil. To be safe, keep it in the fridge like any natural peanut butter to make it last longer. Keeping it in the freezer sounds like a great idea, thanks Joes.

I love sesame noodles in the summer-- and they always make me think of New York:

http://butthesqueal.blogspot.com/2009/04/cold-sesame-noodles.html

unfortunately it has been so cold this summer in SF I haven't made them once! But I also like tahini in pork burgers, or as an off-beat replacement for some of the peanut butter in peanut butter cookies... top with some sesame seeds and you have a really mediterranean treat. (and I keep mine in the fridge, too....)

use it to make your own shortbread crackers! Add it into a shortbread recipe (in place of some of the butter and then a little extra because it tastes good :-) Roll out the dough, cut it into circles, squares, whatever shape your heart desires and then sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake!

Make raisin black sesame bars.

1. make some homemade applesauce, or buy some the chunky kind.

2. Mix with a bit of tahini until creamy. Spread on some bread.....

3. The best sandwich ever.

Refrigeration? Yes, it will go rancid.
Stirring the whole jar? Why bother just wrestle out some of the firm stuff and a little bit of the surface oil and mash it up in a saucer with a fork.

Favorite non-tahini use? With sesame oil and soy as a thick dressing for an oriental theme pasts salad.

When i was little i remember loving these chewy little tahini oatmeal cookies. More recently i've been trying to relive the past in a slightly healthier incarnation. I love mixing tahini into my hot cereal (amaranth recently, the flavors go together really well) that with some honey and yogurt stirred in, and I'm happy.

I had really bad separation in my jar, so I just poured the oil into my food processor and then cut the solid sesame hunk into chunks so I could remove it from the jar. Then I let the food processor "stir" it for me for 30-60 seconds. That was about a month ago, and it's still a beautiful consistency in the fridge.

In addition to all the wonderful uses listed above, tahini sauce for falafel and falafel gyros is so simple and delicious.

I've also long wanted to make these sesame cookies, but have never gotten around to it: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1687690

Theres something called grape molasses (usually found in ethnic food stores that sell tahini) Mix it with tahini, for a quick breakfast dip, (the ratio is around 1:1, but you should adjust to taste) you wont believe how fast this stuff will disappear.

Ah, tahini........ One big spoonful stirred into my muesli, mmmmmmm........... ;)

The "default" way to eat tahini in Turkey is to swirl pekmez (grape molasses) into it to make a bread dip. Yum.

I love love LOVE mixing tahini with sweet & spicy mustard for a veggie dip. If you live in the midwest you can get "Hawk Wind Heat", which is my preferred mixer for tahini. I'm going to need to have my friends send me some soon - I'm almost out! http://www.hawkwindllc.com/

I make a lemon - tahini dressing it great for many uses. I love it in a chopped salad with lots of vegetables, chickpeas, carrots, broc,. tomatoes, and so on or I love it over brown rice with shredded beets, carrots and green onions, some sunflower seeds this is what is called a hippie salad old school california.

2/3 cup tahini
juice of three lemons
zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup olive oil

Pull out your blender. Throw in the tahini, lemon juice, lemon zest, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Pulse in the blender until all the ingredients have become one. Taste. Add more of anything you feel it needs.

Slowly, through the top of the blender — ideally, you have a lid with a hole in it for this purpose — add the olive oil in a drizzle. Continue to add it until the dressing reaches the consistency you desire. If you leave it a little thick, this makes an excellent dip. If you keep adding oil, you will have a silky-smooth dressing in a few moments. Even when it has reached the consistency you wish, let the blender run for awhile, which will allow the oil to truly blend with the rest of the ingredients.

Makes two cups of dressing, which should keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

b77, mine is even simpler :) equal parts lemon juice and apple cider vinegar with tahini to make a dip. Sooo delicious! I eat it just like that with baby carrots ... and by carrots, i mean with my fingers out of the bowl. It's also awesome on blanched/chilled sauteed veggies and steamed fish!

I've put it in smoothies.

I stir it with a chopstick.

@Jenny B: I do what you do -- give it a whirl in the food processor.

The trick to stirring tahini - if you buy the brand pictured above - Joyva - flip the can over and open if from the bottom. Carefully break up and stir.

I use a lot of it in tahini dressing. I roughly follow the recipe I found here http://livingfoodslife.com/?p=406 . I replace the agave with honey. Pretty amazing recipe.

sweet potato salad with chickpeas and tahini
tahini beets

Mix it with yogurt and garlic for a creamy salad dressing or a topping for a grilled eggplant.

Store it upside-down.

I use it to make "cream" based soups instead of dairy products. As in, a flavorful broth + any blanched veggie + a couple spoons of tahini + hand held blender = creamy smooth soup. It is also super in smoothies like other folks have mentioned. :)

As someone who is allergic to peanuts, i found that adding some Tahini as a substitute for peanut butter in Satay did the trick. I'm working on a project for my food blog about recreating "nut free" versions of common dishes that got nuts in them.