Sauteed Greens with Sumac

Summary: A dish of mine, Chicken with Caramelized Sumac Onions, Preserved Lemon and Pearled Couscous, was featured on Food52 as a superb one-pot meal. Afterwards, a friend of mine told me how much she, too, loves sumac, and asked if I'd ever tried it atop sauteed spinach. I'd not but was immediately intrigued and that evening made this (with chard). For lunch the next day I made this again (using kale and arugula). I ate every bite both times.

Yield: serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 beautiful bunch of chard, washed; stems removed and chopped into 1" pieces, leaves torn into pieces; (or, another green(s) you love)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced (or put through a press)
• 1 teaspoon ground sumac berries
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Heat a large skillet (at least 12" works best) over medium heat. Add the olive oil and minced garlic, and stir. You don't want the garlic to crisp up in any way; just soften it and get things going in the fragrant, tasty direction.

Add the sumac, lemon juice and salt, and stir to distribute. Add the chard stems, and cook for a minute or two, to soften them up. Add the torn chard leaves, and toss to coat evenly with the oil mixture. 

Continue to cook until the leaves are uniformly wilted but not mushy. The stems will retain some crunch, so don't worry.

Turn everything out into a serving bowl, season with salt and/or lemon if need be, and dig right in.