This Marinated Za’atar Bean & Olive Salad is a vibrant, Mediterranean-inspired dish that’s as healing as it is vibrant and delicious. It’s a mini-vacation for lunch!
The Mediterranean diet is consistently linked with lower inflammation and reduced cancer risk thanks to its abundance of beans, herbs, vegetables, and healthy fats—all of which support hormone balance, detox pathways, and cellular health. It’s also lavish in olive oil, which has been shown to help reduce inflammation, support DNA integrity, and protect cells from oxidative damage. Learn more about this proven ancient healer here [1].
Combined with fiber-rich beans, antioxidant-packed herbs, mineral-dense olives, and anti-inflammatory spices like za’atar and sumac, this salad is light, satisfying, and deeply nourishing. It’s the kind of simple, make-ahead meal you will love to eat over and over again!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt, plus more as needed for taste
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup green olives, roughly chopped
- 7–8 jarred artichoke hearts, quartered
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, finely minced
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely minced
Marinade
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
- 3 tsp za’atar seasoning
- 1 lemons worth zest
- 1 lemons worth juice
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Directions:
- Thinly slice the onion and add to a large bowl, toss together with the kosher salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Set aside. This mellows out the onion and will make it sweeter.
- Drain and rinse the beans, roughly chop the olives, quarter the artichoke hearts, finely mince the herbs, and add everything to the bowl of onions.
- Mix the marinated ingredients together and then our the marinade over the salad and toss together. Adjust for salt as needed. This tastes best after everything marinates for about 2 hours, but you can also eat it fresh.