I am a biiiiig fan of the seasoning za’atar. I put it on everything- chicken, potatoes, veggies. You name it, I’ve tried it. Za’atar is a mixture of middle eastern herbs that has SO much flavor. Since I put it on nearly everything already, I thought I should make a recipe for you all with it, too! It’s a spice bottle you’ll want to have in your cabinet, trust me.
While we were home for break, my MIL made a recipe that had a base of roasted butternut squash tossed in za’atar, and then a bunch of other things added to the dish. I LOVED the combo of the sweet squash with the savory spices, so that became the inspo behind this salad.
When trying to think of what else to add to the salad to compliment those flavors, I made a list of other flavors from that region. Hence the garlic, lemon and sundried tomato combinations. That is pretty much how I make a lot of my recipes, start with one main idea, pair other flavors that would compliment the main event, and then come up with “vehicles” for those flavors.
In this case, the roasted green beans were the vehicle for the garlic, the dressing as the vehicle for the sundried tomatoes and the lemon zest the…well….lemon.
Top it with a protein of your choice- I did a chicken breast that had- you guessed it- za’atar seasoning.
Try out this super flavorful salad and let me know what ya think 🙂
Thanks for reading,
Emily xx
Find more salad recipes here and here
Middle Eastern Inspired Salad
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Prep Time: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
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Pin RecipeDescription
A middle eastern inspired salad flavor profile that you would never ever be described as boring!
Ingredients
Veggies
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 butternut squash
- 3 c green beans (cut into 2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 c red onion (diced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp za’atar
- lemon zest
Dressing
- 1/2 c sundried tomatoes
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
Instructions
To prepare butternut squash. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the squash. Dice the squash into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss in 1 tbsp olive oil and za’atar. Place on a baking sheet in and cook in the oven at 450 degrees for ~30 minutes, or until the squash is easily punctured with a fork, turning halfway through to ensure they are evenly cooked on all sides.
To prepare the green beans. Toss the green beans in 1 tbsp olive oil and garlic clove. Place on a cookie sheet and in the same oven as the squash for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. The green beans should have a slight char.
To prepare the dressing. In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients for the dressing and blend/pulse for ~1 minute. There will still be chunks of sun dried tomato when you are finished blending.
To prepare the salad: combine the washed and de-ribbed kale with the salad dressing. Massage the dressing with the kale leaves while simultaneously ripping the kale into bite sized pieces. Top with squash, green beans, diced red onion, lemon zest and cooked protein of your choice (ie chicken, beef, salmon, etc).
Keywords: salad, zaatar, butternut squash, green beans, dinner, lunch, healthy