Side-of-greens with crispy garlic

This dish is the 'side of greens' you can easily add to your weeknight dinners: tasty enough on its own, but humble enough to not take away from the main event. Feel free to swap out the chard for other leafy greens such as spinach, kale or cabbage.

Side-of-greens with crispy garlic Credit: Elena Heatherwick

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 90 ml olive oil
• 2 red onions, peeled, halved and cut into 1 cm-thick slices (300 g)
• 1 tbsp sumac, plus ½ tsp to serve
• 750 g rainbow chard, stalks cut into 3–4 cm lengths and leaves very roughly torn in half
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 65 ml lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
• 40 g golden raisins
• 5 g picked dill leaves
• salt and black pepper

Crispy garlic

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

Serves 4, as a side.

Instructions

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of theoil in a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add the onions, ¼ tsp of salt anda good grind of pepper, andcook, stirring occasionally, for 12–15 minutes or until softened and browned. Turn the heat down to medium if they get too dark too quickly. Stir through the tablespoon of sumac and transfer the onions to a bowl.
2. Return the pan to medium-high heat along with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the chard stalks and ½ tsp of salt and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until starting to soften and lightly colour. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Now stir in the chard leaves, a third at a time, along with ½ tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook for another 6–7 minutes or until wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and stir through half of the lemon juice and all the sumac onions.
3. Meanwhile, make the crispy garlic. Put the oil and the sliced garlic into a small frying pan and place it on medium heat. Cook for 8 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn golden and crispy. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the garlic and its oil separately. Add the raisins to the warm garlic oil and set aside. When cool, stir through the dill.
4. Transfer the chard mixture toa large platter with a lip and spoon over the remaining lemon juice. Top with the raisin mixture and sprinkle with the crispy garlicand extra sumac.

Notes

• Double up on the crispy garlic chips and keep them in an airtight container for up to a week. Save the oil you fry it in and keep it in a jar on your shelf for up to 2 weeks. The versatility of crispy garlic knows no bounds.

Images and recipes from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad. Photography by Elena Heatherwick. Published by Penguin, (RRP $49.99).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.