Description
Zaatar Chicken (or Tofu) with Green Tahini Sauce and Broccolini – a simple flavorful Middle Eastern sheet-pan dinner that is vegan adaptable and gluten free.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 8 ounces of broccolini or broccoli rabe
- 1–2 teaspoons olive oil
- generous pinch salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon zaatar spice blend
- zest from one small lemon
- 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
- 1–2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt (per pound of chicken)
- 1 teaspoon pepper (per pound of chicken)
- 1–2 tablespoons Zaatar
Spring Green Tahini Sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 fat garlic cloves
- 2–3 thin slices jalapeno ( optional, or use cayenne to taste)
- 1 small bunch cilantro ( small stems ok, or sub Italian parsley)
- 1/2 cup tahini paste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425F
- In a medium bowl, toss the broccolini with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, season generously with salt , pepper and zaatar. Add 1/2 the lemon zest, toss well and place on one side of a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- In the same bowl, toss chicken with just enough olive oil to lightly coat all sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, zaatar and remaining lemon lest, and toss to coat well. Place on the other side of sheet pan and sprinkle the skin side with more zaatar if you like.
- Place all in the oven to bake and check the broccolini after 12-15 minutes. When done ( it will cook faster than the chicken) using tongs, remove it to a plate and cover with foil.
- Continue cooking the chicken until it is cooked through (165F), keeping in mind that bone-in, skin on chicken thighs takes roughly 30 minutes to bake.
- While the chicken bakes, make the Spring Green Tahini Sauce. Place all the ingredients in a blender except the tahini paste. Blend until smooth. Then add the tahini paste, blend again until smooth. Taste, adjust salt and lemon. (You will not need all the sauce so save some in a mason jar in the fridge to drizzle over buddha bowls, veggies and salads during the coming week. A nice gift to your future self.)
- Serve the Zaatar chicken with broccolini and a drizzle of the tahini sauce.
Notes
Skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and legs will for sure have the best flavor, but feel free to use boneless-skinless.
Feel free to double the broccolini!
If using tofu-use firm or extra firm tofu. ( I love Trader Joe’s organic, sprouted tofu.) Blot dry and cut into ¾-1 inch thick pieces.
If you can’t find zaatar, sub an equal blend of cumin, coriander and sesame seeds ( 1 tsp each) and a pinch of dried thyme if you have it. Sumac gives zaatar it’s tang, so if you don’t have it, a squeeze of lemon at the end of roasting will mimic this. Make sure to season chicken and tofu with salt.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 thigh with skin, sauce & broccolini
- Calories: 544
- Sugar: 2.8 g
- Sodium: 199.6 mg
- Fat: 40.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 9.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 3.9 g
- Protein: 36.2 g
- Cholesterol: 189.1 mg