Use Roasted Sesame Seeds in Your Daily Diet

Roasted sesame seeds are both delicious and nutritious, but you may not know how to work them into your daily diet. Here are a few tips on how to use them.

I love the flavor of roasted sesame seeds. They're nutty and smoky and along with being tasty, they're full of nutrients and fairly low in fat. If you're trying to improve your health, or just add new flavors, working roasted sesame seeds into your diet can be great.

1. Grind the roasted sesame seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle and add the powder to some honey mustard for a wonderful smoky and sweet dipping sauce. I like to make my own honey mustard at home with a hefty dose of ground sesame. It's now one of my favorite dips for chicken.
2. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds on any Asian noodle or rice meal. I love adding them to fried rice or chili udon noodles. You can even add them to plain rice to give flavor and a little crunch.
3. Grind the seeds and mix them in with your favorite stuffing mix for a great new flavor.
4. Ground sesame seeds can add a nice smoky, nutty kick to homemade or store bought barbecue sauce. There's probably no limit to the number of sauces that you could add ground roasted sesame seed to.
5. If you make your own bread, you can use roasted sesame seeds whole or ground for added flavor and nutrition.
6. If you like bagels with cream cheese or butter, put your spread on the bagel, then sprinkle on some roasted sesame seeds.
7. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds into a salad for a little crunch and nutty flavor. If you make your own salad dressing, you could also add ground seeds to the dressing.

According to World's Healthiest Foods sesame seeds are high in copper, manganese, calcium, iron, B1 and magnesium. A quarter cup of sesame seeds contains 2.5g of saturated fat and no cholesterol. The lignans in sesame seeds have been shown to lower cholesterol, prevent high blood pressure and protect the liver. Sesame seeds are also said to boost the immune system and decrease the risk of some types of cancer.

Seeds and nuts can actually be rather versatile if you just take some time to think about their potential uses. Grinding them allows you to mix them into other dishes without getting the texture, but still getting the flavor and nutritional value. Incorporating things like roasted sesame seeds, as well as other seeds and nuts, into your daily diet can be a great way to improve the nutritional value of your meals and eat healthier.