I  don’t cook with sumac very often but when I do, I make this dish and it’s been quite popular among chicken lovers. Sumac is a wonderful Middle Eastern spice, it enhances the flavor of the dish without altering its taste. Sumac is a little tree whose leaves turn red in fall somehow like maple trees and produces little round balls which contains little brownish grains.

I usually serve it with curried Israeli couscous and it makes an excellent combination with Middle Eastern flavors. Sumac is very used in Middle Eastern cuisine, it has a tangy flavor and is used somehow like lemon. If you are vegetarian, chicken can be replaced with white fish and it works beautifully too on light flavored fishes. This spice is one of the most delicate spice I know because of it’s subtle flavor, it will not overpower your dish like curry or cumin would but give it a very fresh and elegant after taste.

Ingredients for 4

• 1.5 lb chicken tenders or breasts cut in strips
• 2 tsp sumac
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• cayenne pepper
• 3 tbs mint
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut chicken in small strips. Add sumac, cumin powder, cayenne, salt and pepper and let it marinate for about one hour or so.

In a small mixing bowl, mix lemon juice and olive oil.

Grill chicken in a grill pan. When grilled on the outside and still juicy in the middle, remove from pan, add olive oil/lemon juice mixture. Coat well. Sprinkle with mint and serve hot.

Sage and garlic chicken tenders wrapped in prosciutto with lemon pepper dressing

This is a lighter version of the Italian saltimbocca stuffed with fontina cheese, sage and cooked in wine, saltimbocca literally means “jump in your mouth”. Since there is no cheese in those, they are grilled instead of pan cooked and the prosciutto is outside instead of inside the chicken. Those are delicious as a light dinner with a salad, or can also be also served with any vegetable side dish. I served those with leeks and wild mushroom gratin, and it was a good combination. The sweetness of the gratin was very well-balanced with the citrus olive oil dressing I put on top of the chicken.

Ingredients

For 2 to 3 people (it makes 6 chicken strips)

• 1 large chicken breast
• 6 slices of prosciutto di parma
• 6 sage leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper

Lemon dressing

• Juice of one lemon
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper