Leave it to Marcella Hazan, the guru of Italian cooking, to turn a simple recipe into a gourmet delight. This spinach is so full of flavor and great as a side vegetable dish. Tonight I made it with a combination of spinach and beet greens. This is really good with any greens but if using tougher greens like kale, you may want to parboil it first.

2 pounds fresh spinach

Sea salt

2 large cloves garlic, peeled

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Discard the hard end of the stems of the spinach or if tough, remove the leaves from the entire stem. Rinse the spinach leaves in several changes of cold water and drain. Cook the spinach leaves in a covered pan with 1 tbsp salt.  Cook until tender. Drain well but do not squeeze.

Put the garlic and olive oil in a skillet, turn the heat to medium high and when the garlic becomes a light nut-brown color, remove from the pan. Add the spinach and toss in the garlic flavored oil. Taste to adjust seasoning for salt. Transfer to a warmed platter and serve at once.