Za'atar is SO. YUMMY!

My awesome friend Jill gave me some homemade za'atar seasoning for Christmas, and a wonderful recipe for making a za'atar flatbread using the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (also known affectionately among us convers as ABin5 or even AB5). If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's start here. AB5 is a REVOLUTIONARY, super easy and wonderful way to have fresh, homemade, preservative-free bread anytime you want, with less than 5 mintues work. Really. So, go, buy their first book, or their second one (including gluten free and loads of whole grain recipes), then come back here and finish reading this post. We'll wait.

Now, the spice mix, za'atar, is a middle eastern blend of sesame seeds, salt, thyme, and sumac. It is DELCIOUS! Lemony-tart, and just fantastic. You can make your own, or buy it. For extra herby bonus points, you can grow your own thyme AND wildcraft the sumac! (Sumac is easily found in the eastern and midwest parts of the US and Canada).


The specific recipe I used was the AB5 boule (whole wheat), baked as a flatbread, but, if you wantedn to try this at home, you could use any foccacia type recipe and basically substitute the za'atar seasoning for the rosemary. Otherwise it is made the same - put your dough on an oiled sheet, use your fingers to make indentations in the dough, sprinkle on your seasoning and some coarse salt, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 450 until it's done. I meant to get a picture of it right out of the oven but, as you can see, that did not happen. It was just. too. good.