Za’tar Salmon And Spinach Rice

• Make a thick dressing from mix a tbsp of sumac, 2 of za’tar, and 1 of olive oil.
• Season skin on salmon fillets with a little S&P (bearing in mind za’tar also has a little salt in it) then spread the dressing over the salmon. Not too thick, you don’t want a crust, but you do want the salmon covered.
• Bake the salmon in a 180’C oven for, maybe, 10 minutes and check it for doneness. It’ll vary depending on the fillets you have.

I like to serve this with a West African spinach rice.

• Toast some cashews and set aside.
• Gently fry some onion and garlic then add some washed rice, crushed vermicelli, a little curry powder (an African blend if you can find it, or a Jamaican blend if you can’t), and continue to gently fry until the rice is starting to get a little toasty and the curry powder fragrant.
• Add twice as much chicken stock as you had rice, bring to a simmer, cover, and set it as low as it’ll go.
• After 10 minutes, most of the liquid will have been absorbed. Take the lid off the pan and quickly cover the rice with chopped spinach then recover the pan, turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes.
• Mix the now-wilted spinach in with the rice, fluff it up and serve with the toasted cashews on the top and a good wedge of lemon per person since both rice and salmon love a good hit of lemon juice.