Za’atar spiced pumpkin and quinoa salad

Substantial salads are great any time of the year, and a nice change from soup for a winter lunch.

Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend of thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. I’ve yet to find the perfect ratio, but this one is pretty good. Sumac is a ground, dried red berry with a tart, lemony flavour. It’s at the supermarket in the spice aisle, or check out your local Indian supermarket where it’s probably a lot cheaper.

Parsley is something I still have growing plentifully in my vege garden, so it’s making a regular appearance in my cooking at the moment. It’s a good way to get a bit more green into almost anything, I think.

If you’ve been following this blog you may have noticed I always ask for the zest and juice of lemons. That’s because I have *never* finished making something, tasted it and said “wow I wish there was a little less lemon in there”. The zest adds another layer of lemon and that can only be a good thing I reckon.

Za'atar spiced pumpkin and quinoa salad

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Course: Salads and dressings

Cuisine: Vegan

Servings: 4

Author: Quite Good Food

INGREDIENTS

For the za'atar:

• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the salad:

• Half a small pumpkin peeled and diced
• Spray olive oil
• 2/3 cup quinoa I used half red and half white
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped parsley
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

For the za'atar:

• Roughly grind ingredients together in a mortar and pestle.

For the salad:

• Preheat your oven to 200C fanbake.
• Put the diced pumpkin on a baking tray, spray with olive oil and liberally sprinkle with za'atar (I used the full quantity). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and beginning to char on the edges. Give it a stir once or twice during cooking to ensure it browns evenly. Remove from the oven and cool.
• While the pumpkin is cooking, cook your quinoa. Bring water to a boil, add the quinoa and boil for 12-14 minutes. Drain in a sieve and leave to steam dry and cool down. I actually meant to use half a cup each of white and red quinoa, but accidentally used the wrong measuring cup. The quantities worked out fine, but by all means cook more quinoa if you're feeding more people or want more leftovers.
• Once the pumpkin and quinoa are cooled enough to not cook your parsley, mix everything together in a big bowl.
• Serve on a bed of lettuce or spinach greens and enjoy.

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