Za’atar can refer to a specific herb, but it commonly refers to a condiment – usually a blend of herbs, white sesame seeds and salt. The one I use just has sumac, thyme and sesame seeds and it is delicious sprinkled on bread brushed with olive oil or on roasted vegetables or salad.

The March Daring Cooks challenge was to create a salad and dressing from scratch and I wanted to try something a bit different from my usual Greek salad with vinaigrette. This salad and dressing combo came through with flying colours!

Ingredients

Salad

1 medium eggplant (aubergine)
1 medium red onion
1 red pepper (capsicum)
1 yellow pepper (capsicum)
1 large zucchini (courgettes)
olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Dressing

1 x 180g tub (3/4 cup) Greek yoghurt
3 tbsp lemon juice (1/2 large lemon)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp za’atar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).

Halve the eggplant and onion lengthwise then slice them and the peppers and zucchini about 1cm (a bit less than 1/2″) thick.

Spread the vegetables in a large baking tray, drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until done as desired, turning once or twice. Set aside to cool.

Toss together the chickpeas, parsley and vegetables.

Whisk together the yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic and za’atar. While whisking constantly, drizzle in the olive oil. Season to taste. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to combine.

Serve salad at room temperature with the dressing drizzled over the top.

*****

Blog-checking lines: For March’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge, Ruth, Shelley and Sawsan asked us to totally veg out! We made salads and dressings, letting the sky be the limit as we created new flavors and combinations that reflect our own unique tastes.

Download the .pdf here.