The morning found me gleefully bursting out of bed at the crack of dawn instead of my usual reluctant sleepy crawl. And although I can certainly understand why you might think so, the source of all of this pre bird-chirping giddy elation is not because I just discovered that The B52′s have released their first new album in over sixteen years (however my a.m coffee is a just a titch on the fuerte side and you may find me bouncing around to Cindy and Fred singing about having their hearts broken at the Funplex any moment now). No, this is much, much bigger. I am leaving in a few hours to spend a few days in Charlotte with my cousins who happen to be some of my favorite people ever to have walked the planet.

It has been one and a half years since our last visit together, and that is one and a half years too long to be away from people you love so much. I long for their gentle and easy manner, the engaging and witty conversation and the way that everybody just abundantly loves and enjoys each other so darned much that I always find it difficult to leave.

My cousin’s tall, dark-haired, natural beauty of a wife Tamara, has the most soothing voice. A little bit Southern but not drawl; when she speaks I just want to curl up while allowing her voice to wrap and float around me like a softly petaled blanket of sweet magnolia. We keep in touch by phone and e-mail, and when I am not seeking her kindly advice on life’s little catastrophes, talk frequently turns to food and we exchange recipes. I was recently describing an Israeli salad that I crave so much that once made, I need to eat it every day until I finally tire of the repetition. Tamara then told me of a secret salad dressing that she makes that “I can eat until my mouth hurts”.

This dressing, or a version of, was popular in a couple of the vegetarian restaurants situated around the Raleigh-Durham area while Tamara was in college. My other cousin’s wife worked at one of these restaurants for about a week or so while she was attending school at Duke, just long enough to figure out what went into the dressing (my cousins and their crafty wives!), added her touches, and passed it along to Tamara. Tamara then worked her own alchemy on what now has become known as The Secret Sesame Salad Dressing.

Only a very few secrets are meant to be shared, and when you tell me one, it goes to the bank. I was fortunate enough to receive the secret dressing recipe, and I am telling you, it is everything Tamara promised and then some; while I was shooting the salad photo, all I kept thinking about was when I could finally get my fork into that salad and inhale it’s addictive magical lemony tahini dressing that perfectly coated and complemented the selection of crunchy fresh vegetables. It is in fact so amazing and wonderous that I must share the joy with you as I am a sharing-type person. So, in the spirit of keeping Tamara’s secret recipe safe and hopefully ensuring another invite back to Charlotte, I did some minor re-tailoring of the already twice-altered recipe to come up with my own now not-so-secret take for you too enjoy.

I have a huge smile on my face knowing that I’ll soon be in Charlotte with my cousins in the balm and sun, and maybe we’ll be eating Secret Sesame Salad Dressing until our mouths hurt together.

Secret Sesame Salad Dressing
Yield: 5 cups
This salad dressing begs to be combined with something crunchy. I created a sensational fattoush-inspired salad meal with what I had on hand: some sliced Spring onions, Kirby cucumber , celery stalks and their tender leaves, diced watermelon radish, a handful of Rancho Gordo garbanzo beans and leaves of fresh cilantro. I crumbled in some seasoned crisps I made from Ezekiel’s live sprouted grain tortillas: 350 oven. Brush tortilla(s) with thin glaze of olive oil, sprinkle with za’atar seasoning and crunchy sea salt and bake until crisp, 5-7 minutes.

1/2 large onion cut into chunks
1 small green pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
2 stalks of celery cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic cut into halves
1 tsp. black pepper
1 cup tahini
3/4 cup tamari
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in blender until smooth. While motor is running, slowly add in olive oil and blend again until smooth. Check for seasoning.

Tamara says, “This makes a lot, so it’s good for sharing”. It does, and I did.