Ingredients
- Za'atar Chicken & Grilled Vegetables
- Serves 6
- This recipe is my standard summer dish that I serve to guests. It always gets rave reviews and requests for the recipe (and yet is so easy!). Za’atar is a blend of thyme, sesame seeds and sumac. It is sold at Middle Eastern grocery stores, and is great on just about anything. You can grill the vegetables earlier in the day and broil them before you serve to reheat them.
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons za’atar spice blend
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 red peppers, or 1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper, sliced
- 2 zucchini, sliced in long strips lengthwise
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup oil cured black olives (optional)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Za’atar Spice Blend
- 2 tablespoons dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons dried sumac
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Instructions
In a spice grinder, add thyme, sumac and sesame seeds and grind until mostly ground. Keep any leftover za'atar in the refrigerator or freezer. The oils in the sesame seeds can go rancid and spoil your spice blend.
Chicken:
In a bowl, add lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, za'atar, and olive oil and mix well. Add chicken and thoroughly coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
Vegetables:
In a bowl, add peppers, onion, zucchini, salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix well.
Preheat grill and grill basket.
Remove chicken from marinade and place on grill. Place zucchini slices on grill. Place peppers and onion in a grill basket. Cook vegetables until almost lightly browned and add tomatoes (optional) and continue cooking until the onion is lightly browned and the peppers can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Cook chicken for about 6 minutes or until lightly browned and turn and continue cooking until cooked through, another 6-8 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar, olive oil, 1 tablespoon za'atar and mix well. Add olives (optional) and toss.
On a serving platter, scatter vegetables and place chicken breasts. Drizzle vinaigrette over and sprinkle feta cheese and serve.
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