What’s Cooking in Kelli’s Kitchen: This Month’s Flavor Passport Stamp: Za’atar

Greetings Gentler Readers, 

I am writing this week from sea level, where I’m attending a conference in Orlando. The air is heavy here, the kind of humidity that makes even a short walk feel like a slow melt. I’m not cooking in my hotel room, but I am thinking about flavors—because if travel teaches us anything, it’s that food and spice have a way of connecting us to place. Sometimes they anchor us in memory; sometimes they stir up dreams of places we’ve never been.

This month at the Churchill County Library, the featured “spice of the month” is za’atar—a Middle Eastern blend of thyme, oregano, sumac, sesame seeds, salt, and the eponymous za’atar plant (sometimes called hyssop). It’s a seasoning that evokes images of sunlit hillsides, communal tables, and bread freshly pulled from a wood-fired oven. When I open a jar of za’atar at home, I’m instantly transported—not to Fallon or Orlando, but to imagined kitchens half a world away. That’s the gift of spice: it is both flavor and passport.

Travel and spice are kindred. Cardamom puts me in a bustling café I once visited in Jerusalem, and saffron evokes meals I haven’t yet eaten in Morocco—but hope to. Za’atar does the same: it invites me to taste beyond my own borders, whether literal or imagined.

Since I’m not cooking on the road, let me share a simple recipe you can try at home, one that captures the essence of za’atar while fitting into any kitchen routine:

Za’atar Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons za’atar
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Toss everything together and roast at 400 degrees for 20–25 minutes, until golden and crisp. They’re delicious as a snack, tucked into a salad, or carried along on your own travels.

Mediterranean Avocado Salad With Feta

Ingredients

For the dressing

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons za’atar, plus more to sprinkle
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper

For the salad

• 2 large Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 English cucumber, diced
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, plus more to taste
• 2 avocados
• 10 to 15 basil leaves, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
• 3 to 4 ounces feta, crumbled into large chunks

Directions

1. Prepare the vinaigrette: Shake or whisk the lemon zest, juice, olive oil, garlic, and za’atar until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Mix the salad: In a bowl, add the tomatoes, cucumber, shallot, and olives. Shake the vinaigrette again, then pour into the bowl and toss. Taste and adjust seasoning. Slice the avocados in half, remove the pits, and dice. Add to the salad along with the basil and feta. Toss gently, sprinkle with extra za’atar, and serve.

So, while I’m wilting here in the Florida air, I’m holding onto this thought: spice connects us to place, whether through memory or imagination. Head over to the Churchill County Library during the month of September to pick up your sample of za’atar and earn one more stamp in your flavor passport—because spices are an invitation to let your kitchen—wherever it happens to be—become a vessel for travel.

Until next week, may your food take you places.