As I mentioned, za’atar is used in marinades and works particularly well with chicken. Mix the spice with olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Let the chicken marinate for several hours and then bake or grill. Recently, I have been using za’atar with roasted vegetables, served with tahini sauce.
Ingredients
1 bunch beets
1 bunch carrots
1 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ cup honey or maple syrup
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup za’atar
Instructions
Preheat oven 400˚ F.
Clean and peel vegetables and cut into 1 ½ – 2 inch cubes. Mix oil, salt, garlic powder, lemon juice and honey. Pour over the vegetables and toss until well coated. Spread vegetables on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.
Roast for 20-40 minutes or until desired tenderness, stirring once or twice. Remove from the oven, transfer to a bowl and toss with the za’atar. You may also remove vegetables halfway through the cooking process and toss with the spice mix to further deepen the flavor. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast until the vegetables are fork tender.
While vegetables are roasting, prepare tahini sauce. Serve the vegetables drizzled with the sauce and garnished with sprigs of parsley or other fresh herbs.
Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup water
2 Tbl lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Optional: ¼ cup chopped parsley
Instructions
Place the tahini in a small bowl and pour in water a little at a time, while stirring. The mixture will “seize” at first but will eventually loosen as you keep adding the water. Stir and add water until you reach the desired consistency. Add the lemon juice, the crushed garlic and salt to taste. Add the parsley if desired.