Za'atar Salmon Traybake with Potato Wedges & Cherry Tomatoes

Za'atar is the Levantine spice blend that you should already have in your cupboard — dried thyme, sumac (the lemony-tart red spice), toasted sesame seeds, oregano, sometimes savory or marjoram. It's the smell of every street-corner bakery in Beirut, Jerusalem, and Damascus, where it's brushed on flatbreads with olive oil and baked. On salmon, it does similar work: the dried thyme infuses, the sumac brightens, the sesame seeds toast and add nutty crunch.

The traybake structure is the British weeknight invention — protein and vegetables cooked together on one tray. Adapted to the air fryer, it becomes faster (no preheat, no big oven) but the same principle: everything goes into the basket in stages, comes out together. Potato wedges first (they need more time), then salmon laid on top, then cherry tomatoes scattered to blister at the end.

The herb-yogurt drizzle is the cooling counterpoint — Greek yogurt, fresh mint and parsley, a clove of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil. Stirred together, drizzled in zigzags across the finished plate. The combination of warm-spice salmon, crisp potatoes, jammy tomatoes, and cool yogurt is the whole reason this dish works.

The photo shows the finished platter: salmon glossy with the za'atar rub showing through, golden potato wedges fanned beside, charred vine of cherry tomatoes burst and oozing, basil and herb sauce drizzled across, on a dark teal plate with napkin. The dinner that's prettier than the effort required to make it.