Greek meatballs with tomato-cucumber salad and lemon-tahini dressing

Ground meat:

• Cut a small corner from the packaging and drain off any excess liquid. Transfer the meat to a plate; pat dry with a paper towel. 
• In a large bowl, combine the meat and za'atar, season with salt and pepper, and mix until just combined. Using wet hands, form the mixture into 1-inch meatballs. 

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons oil until hot but not smoking. Add the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Shrimp: 

• Rinse and drain the shrimp. Pat dry on a paper-towel-lined plate.
• In a large bowl, combine the shrimp and za'atar, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. 

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and cook, turning once, until firm and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side for regular shrimp, 2 to 3 minutes per side for jumbo shrimp. Transfer to a plate.

Scallops: 

• Rinse and drain the scallops. Pat dry on a paper-towel-lined plate.
• In a large bowl, combine the scallops and za'atar, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons oil until hot but not smoking. Add the scallops and cook without turning until golden brown on one side and starting to turn opaque, 2 to 4 minutes. Turn and continue cooking for about 30 seconds for translucent or 1 to 2 minutes for opaque. Transfer to a plate.

While your protein is cooking, start preparing the salad. 

• Peel the cucumber, if desired; cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then crosswise into enough ¼-inch-thick half-moons to measure 1 cup [2 cups]. 
• Cut away the cores from the tomatoes; coarsely chop the tomatoes.
• Peel the onion and cut into enough ¼-inch-thick slices to measure ½ cup [1 cup]. 
• Strip the mint leaves from the stems; finely chop the leaves.

In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, mint, and 1 to 2 teaspoons oil; season generously with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, stir together the lemon-tahini dressing base and 2 to 3 tablespoons oil; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the salad to individual plates and top with your protein. Drizzle with as much lemon-tahini dressing as you like and serve any remaining dressing on the side.