Za'atar Chicken with Lemon-Parsley Salad

I love these tender, juicy sautéed chicken cutlets, covered in flavorful spices and topped with a tangy lemon parsley salad. Zaatar Chicken with Lemon-Parsley Salad is a quick-to-prepare main course which can be on the table in about 30 minutes. It’s a great weeknight choice, but it’s also beautiful enough for a special Saturday date night dinner.

This recipe is an adaptation of the Milk Street recipe for Zaatar Chicken Cutlets and Lemon-Parsley Salad. The original, while tasty, lacked intensity of flavor for me, so I have amped up the seasoning. And in true “The Portion Queen” style, I prefer to make this dish more “plant-focused,” and I have greatly increased the size of the parsley salad that tops the chicken. To make things even healthier, almond flour replaces white flour in the coating for the chicken.

Ingredients for Za'atar Chicken

Za’atar Chicken with Lemon-Parsley Salad leverages classic flavoring ingredients of the Levant. This is that region of countries that border the eastern Mediterranean Sea that includes Egypt, Lebanon, Israel and Syria.

Za’atar is a spice blend that varies country-to-country and even house-to-house and chefs of the region have their own special recipes, that are often closely guarded secrets. Generally, the blend contains the spices oregano, thyme and marjoram, along with bright and tangy sumac and toasted sesame seeds. Some versions also contain cumin, but most do not. I add cumin to this recipe because it is my favorite spice and I think it works brilliantly with chicken and lemon. The Wild Za'atar and Wild Mountain Cumin spices I use are both from Burlap and Barrel. They are the freshest and most intensely flavored spices I have found - at any price.

Aleppo pepper is named after the city along the famed Silk Road in northern Syria. It is a delightfully flavorful pepper, and not particularly hot. In fact, it is only about half as hot as typical Italian crushed red pepper flakes. I like this Premium Aleppo Pepper by SPICE + LEAF.

Pomegranate molasses is simply the juice of pomegranates, boiled down to a thin consistency, like syrup. Unlike baking molasses made from sugar or sugar beets, pomegranate molasses is not used as a sweetener, but instead as a condiment. It is both sour and sweet and you might even say it is pungent. You can make your own pomegranate molasses using pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice, but excellent bottled versions are readily available, so I don’t go through that extra step. There are not many organic versions out there, which is why I like Just Pomegranate Syrup : Organic Pomegranate Molasses. Their squeeze bottle also makes it very easy to drizzle the pomegranate molasses onto any dish. It's a game changer

• chicken breast cutlets
• sea salt
• za'atar spice blend
• cumin seed
• almond flour
• aleppo pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• parsley
• scallions
• lemon zest and juice
• pomegranate molasses
• walnuts

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions for Za'atar Chicken

Coarsely chop parsley leaves and the tender stems only. Place in a medium bowl. Thinly slice the scallions on an angle and add to the bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice and zest, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a bit of salt. Set aside.

Put the walnuts in a snack-sized zip-lock bag, seal the bag and use a meat tenderizer tool to crush the walnuts into small pieces. Set aside

Combine 2 tablespoons za’atar, cumin, black pepper and flour on a wide plate.

Using a meat tenderizer tool, pound the chicken cutlets to ¼” thickness between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Season both sides of the chicken cutlets with sea salt.

In a 12” skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and then press into the spice/flour mixture. Make sure the entire surface of the cutlets is seasoned. When the oil is hot, add the cutlets to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes per side, until well browned.

Transfer cooked chicken to a warmed serving platter and drizzle the cutlets with pomegranate molasses.

Add the lemon juice mixture to the parsley and toss to coat. Mound the greens on the cutlets. Top with the walnuts and an extra sprinkling of za’atar and serve immediately.

Substitutions

My husband does not "love" parsley and I'm sure that is true for many people. This za'atar chicken recipe is equally delicious using lemon-arugula salad in place of the lemon-parsley salad. The preparation is the same.

Equipment

The only possibly unusual piece of equipment that you need to make Zaatar Chicken with Lemon Parsley Salad is meat tenderizer. This double sided KitchenAid Gourmet Meat Tenderizer is excellent.  Use the flat side of it to pound meat not only for this dish, but dishes like chicken piccata and veal marsala. When you need chopped nuts, put the nuts in a ziplock bag and use the flat side of the meat tenderizer to crush the nuts to the size you need. 

Every kitchen should also have a good quality zester. Microplanar is the gold standard for zesting tools. I have several in my kitchen and always reach for this Microplane Premium Classic Zester Grater.

Top tip

The pounded chicken cutlets will be about 6" in diameter each, so two of them will fill a large 12" skillet. Cooking for more than two people means using multiple pans or cooking the chicken cutlets in batches.

Also, for me, this is is a complete meal. If it seems a little light for you, add a roasted vegetable as a side or a salad that does not contain greens, such as this Pear and Radish Salad with Gorgonzola. For really hearty eaters, serve the Za'atar Chicken with Black Lentils with Oven-Dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola. It's beautiful, filling and it's great for leftovers the next day.

Recipe