Ode to Sesame Oil

Have you discovered toasted sesame oil yet? It's been a beloved favorite of mine for a few years now. With a strong flavor, you don't need much to really change the taste of a meal. It's not cheap, but a tiny bit goes a very long way. Keep it stored in the fridge - sesame oil goes rancid quickly, and keeping it cold helps to delay that. Look in the Asian section of the grocery store, near soy sauce and teriyaki.

Stir fry dinners are a regular occurrence around here, especially in the summer when all the veggies are fresh from the garden. Try some carrots and snow peas sauteed lightly in a drizzle of sesame oil, then tossed with raw sesame seeds and served over rice. Or add some sesame to an otherwise plain oil-based salad dressing and it becomes an Asian-flavored dressing: try tossing some chicken into a regular garden salad, then sprinkle on some raw cashews and your Asian dressing, and you've got a tasty main-dish salad.