Meatless Monday: Za'atar Spiced Bread Salad

This week crusty bread, cheese and vegetables unite in fresh, flavorful Meatless Monday salad.

The bread salad is made up of a crusty sesame bread, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, chickpeas and some red onions. It's all tossed with a delicious (but simple!) dressing. To make things extra exciting, I added some za'atar to the dressing. Za'atar is a Middle Eastern spice mixture - mine is made up of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. After making the salad, you will place it in the fridge for at least an hour. In that hour the bread will soak up that dressing and some of the tomato juice and it will be absolutely delicious. In terms of serving, I ate it along with pita and hummus while my husband (non-vegetarian that he is) ate it with some salmon.

Za'atar Spiced Bread Salad
Serves 6 as a side

Ingredients

• 4 cups crusty sesame bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used 1/2 Iggy's Sesame Ficelle)

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, separated

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 1/2 teaspoons Za'atar

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half vertically

• 2 cups Ciliegine Mozzarella (mini Mozzarella balls), halved if desired

• 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• Salt and pepper, for seasoning

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Toss the bread cubes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and cook until toasted and lightly browned - about 7 - 8 minutes but check often to make sure it doesn't burn. Set aside to cool

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet over medium low heat. Add the garlic and Za'atar and cook until fragrant (both the garlic and Za'atar) about 1 - 2 minutes. Set aside to cool

Add the tomatoes, bread, mozzarella, chickpeas and red onion to a large bowl. Toss gently to combine

Whisk together the seasoned olive oil and vinegar. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

Toss the salad with the dressing and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least an hour before serving