Slow Cooker Za’atar chicken
Last week’s recipe found us admiring the colorful spices in a Moroccan souk. This week’s is driven by my love of Middle Eastern food, fueled locally by an international grocery store at the end of a strip mall on the north side of Chicago.
Sahar International Market compliments other regional restaurants and bakeries in the Albany Park area, which serve up Persian, Lebanese and Turkish dishes. It’s my go-to for freshly baked tabone breads for kebabs and samoor, an Iraqi flatbread, for sandwiches. 1 deposit casino nz.com A selection of spices olives, and feta cheese make this stop a Mediterranean flavored culinary dream.
Our spice blend focus is on za’atar, an ancient blend of ground dried oregano, thyme or marjoram, ground sumac, toasted sesame seeds and salt. It is lemony, nutty and characteristic of the pungent and warm herbal flavors of oregano. My first encounter with za’atar was at the cash register where tamborine sized flatbreads, sprinkled with the green spice mixture and glistening with olive oil, caught my eye. I was excited to try something new.
The appeal of using za’atar in a slow cooked Middle Eastern dish comes from the simplicity of making a wet rub using a good olive oil and the ready made za’atar before spreading it on the meat to cook. The flavors mellow while cooking and the addition of sides such as a fresh, chopped herb salad and a yoghurt and tahini dressing makes the the whole dish greater than the sum of its parts. Tear off a sizeable piece of flatbread and spread liberally with the tahini sauce, top with pieces of chicken and sprinkle with green herbs.
Author’s note: for further in-depth reading, my research on za’atar led me to an interesting article on NPR “za’atar – a spice mix with biblical roots and brain food reputation”.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup zaatar spice mix
- pinch salt (depending on the spice blend salt content)
- 2 - 2 1/2 lbs chicken pieces - thighs, legs or split chicken breasts, bone in & skinless
- 1 lemon quatered
- 1 cup greek yoghurt
- 1/4 cup tahini sauce
- lemon juice from the 1/2 remaining lemon
- salt and pepper to season
- 1/2 tsp / 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp cumin, ground
- mixed herbs or salad
- in a bowl mix the olive oil, za'atar spice and salt to a thick paste
- add the chicken to the paste and mix to cover
- spray the slow cooker insert with non stick spray
- put the chicken and spice mix into the slow cooker and add 1/2 of the lemon pieces
- cover and cook on LOW: for 5-6 hours or HIGH: for 2-3 hours
- mix the tahini sauce ingredients in a bowl and serve alongside the chicken and salad
- use za'atar mixed with olive oil and spread on flatbreads, toast in the oven for 5-8 minutes until browned
- top homemade hummus with za'atar and olive oil for an extra kick
“Anyway, the roadside serving of za’atar on bread was an astonishingly simple food, simple enough to love it. The za’atar was just spread over the hot bread like butter on toast. That was it. I’d eat it again.”
-Steve Inskeep, Host NPR’s Morning Edition
