Hand in Hand

Some days you want an easy snack, but not necessarily just cheese and crackers. So, you head to the fridge to see what you have for leftovers.

We made pizza last night, so we had chopped black olives in the fridge. Hmmmmm…..tapenade! If you aren’t familiar with it, tapenade is basically a spread/paste made with olives, capers, and a few other ingredients. If you search online, you’ll find a lot of different recipes. Some are more intricate, while others are simpler.

For this throw together tapenade, we’re staying fairly simple.

• Black Olives (pitted)
• Green pimento olives (pitted)
• marinated artichoke hearts
• capers
• olive oil
• champagne vinegar
• dried thyme
• garlic
• black pepper

I used what I had on hand. If you have lemon juice, use that instead of vinegar. No thyme, you can use parsley or even oregano. Only one color of olives, that’s fine. I’ve even seen comments about adding sun-dried tomatoes. This is a pretty forgiving spread.

A food processor is handy, but I used a small blender. Toss in your ingredients and blend. That’s it.

Serve on crackers or toast. You can even use it as a schmear on a sandwich or wrap. It should last at least 2-3 weeks in a sealed container in the fridge.

As for measurements, I went off what I had. So, about 2 tablespoons of black olives, 8 green olives, 6 marinated artichoke hearts, 1 tablespoon capers, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, 1 clove of garlic, 2 teaspoons vinegar, and a glug of olive oil. (A glug is just under 1/4 cup for me.) As I started to blend, it was really thick, so I did add more olive oil. You’re going for a thick spread, not anything runny.

It’s not the prettiest dish, but the flavors are savory & salty and just the right pop on the taste buds. Give it a shot and see what you think.