We’ve run away for a little while, island hopping around Greece, being hermits and taking it easy. It is blissful, and quite frankly I don’t want to come home. On the plus side I feel more inspired than I have in a long time and am brimming with recipes ideas from all the beautiful food we have eaten and seen. A lot of it vegetarian and almost all incredibly wholesome.

A quick one for today then, a post dedicated to my love of tahini: sesame seed paste. It is something that has always graced our cupboards and is used heavily in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine, and has become increasingly popular back home in the UK too. They even sell it in the mini (chain) supermarket in our building now. Straight up it is quite intense (think mouth coating, unsweetened smooth peanut butter) but this vegan, natural ingredient is an all rounder – perfect in sweets and baking, savoury dishes, smoothies, salad dressings – tahini is a winner store cupboard ingredient.

So, inspired by  our wonderful surroundings here is a quick brekkie we knocked up on our travels, something I will most definitely be making again.

Sesame and banana toastie

Makes enough for 1 hungry person or 2 breakfast avoiders

• A large chunk of Greek sesame bread (koulouri) or 2 large slices of bread
• A large ripe banana
• A few tablespoons of honey
• A tablespoon of tahini
• Pinch of ground cinnamon (we didn’t have any to hand but if we had I’d definitely have sprinkled a bit in)
• Olive oil
• Generous pinch of sea salt

Place your toastie machine to warm up. Alternatively you could do this in a hot griddle pan with a weight on the toastie to squish it down.

Mash the banana with the tahini and enough honey to sweeten, about a tablespoon. Open up the koulouri bread and lightly drizzle the outside with a little olive oil. Alternatively drizzle the bread with a little oil. Pile the mashed banana into the koulouri, or spread onto one of the slices of bread and top with the other (you want the oiled sides on the outside to stop it sticking to the machine or griddle).

Grill your toastie, until golden and slightly caramelised around the edges – a little of the banana and honey may have creeped out the sides. Then transfer to a plate or board and finish with another drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of sea salt.