Nigella

Za'atar Chicken With Fattoush

This is just wonderful when you have friends over in summer, though not to be discounted for the rest of the year, either. There was a time I cooked it just about every two weeks, and it's an easy habit to get into! It’s simple: the chicken deeply spiced with za’atar, that wonderful Middle-Eastern spice blend comprising thyme, sesame seeds and ground sumac, itself a glorious blood-red berry with an intensely astringent lemony tang; the salad a fresh tangle of mint, parsley, cucumber, tomato and spring onions, crumbled with torn shards of toasted pitta and sprinkled, again, with sumac. To be entirely proper, you should throw in some leafy, herbal purslane, too, but unless you happen to live near a Middle-Eastern shop, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get your hands on any, so I haven’t listed it below. The chicken, once cooked, does go an unphotogenically dark colour, but that is divinely matched by such depth of flavour. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.