Hoummous al Za’atar Chickpea Salad

This salad is really a wonderful mix of flavors and texture combinations. Za’atar is an ancient middle eastern spice blend made from lightly toasted sesame seeds, sun dried herbs and ground sumac. Not the poisonous sumac you've undoubtedly been warned about since childhood, but a very food-friendly type of sumac native to the Middle East. The bark of this sumac tree is ground to a powder and tastes lemony and earthy. The salad is made with chickpeas, wheat berries, sumac, roasted eggplant, tomatoes, parsley and feta cheese. Everything is drizzled with olive oil and lemon, and then sprinkled with za’atar. If you close your eyes, the scent of the lemon and za’atar will hopefully bring you to a dusty camel caravan heading across the desert for a souq far in the shimmering distance.