A Trio of Tapenades

What's better than three yummy-dippy-things to stick a cracker or carrot in? (I love to eat with my hands, I admit.) I also love the briny salty tang of olives, capers and OH! anchovies. I taught a class last week that totally agreed with me. (Don't you just love it when that happens?)

Here are the recipes we whipped up together - all three in the food processor. Super easy - just rinse the bowl out between recipes. Then put it in the dishwasher...done! 

 When you serve three dips like this, along with crudite and crackers or bread, you've got apps covered. Just pop the top on your favorite sparkler and make friends!

Fast Olive Tapenade

3/4 Cup Pitted Oil Cured Black Olives

½ Cup Pitted Castlevetrano Olives

1/3 Cup EVOO

2 TB Lemon Juice

2 TB Capers

4 Anchovies

1 Tsp Italian Seasoning

¼ Tsp Black Pepper

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Almond Olive Tapenade

1 ½ Cup Stuffed Spanish Green Olives

¼ Cup Raw Almonds

1 Clove Garlic, Peeled

1 ½ TB Lemon Juice

½ Tsp Lemon Zest

1 Tsp Smoked Paprika

1 TB Capers

4 Large Basil Leaves

¼ Cup EVOO

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until slightly chunky – taste for salt and pepper.

Fig Tapenade

1 Cup Dried Figs

½ Cup White Wine

1 Cup Pitted Kalamata Olives

1 TB EVOO

1 Tsp White Balsamic Vinegar

1 TB Thyme

Pulse the dried figs with the white wine until a paste forms. Whirl the remaining ingredients in the food processor with the fig paste until coarsely chopped.

***With this week I'm moving Meatless Monday to sometime-during-the-week Mostly Meatless. Monday's are the day when I'm prepping Spicy Tuesday Spicy Tuesday at Living and Eating Well and I'm making myself a little crazier than I already am:) So, I'll be posting a meatless yummy and healthy recipe sometime every week! Hope to see you here!

Roasted Red Peppers Take Over the World!

A PILE of Peppers!

Its often the simplest foods that make me happy. You too? One of my simple favorites are Roasted Red Peppers. I feel a little like the Sham WOW guy when I start talking about them:) Wow! they are a snack, an entree, in a soup, topping a pasta, pureed for a salad dressing...you get the idea. There are not many trips to the grocery store when they don't find a spot in my basket or an important place on the menu. 

This sounds a little weird, but apparently, I even smell like red peppers. I've had more than one person pop their head into the Cancer Wellness Kitchen and tell me, "I know you are in the kitchen when I stepped off the elevator and smelled the peppers roasting." Not a bad thing to smell like, I guess!

Yesterday we celebrated Katie and Pete's upcoming wedding with buddies from our Taste Club classes at Cooks Warehouse. 

The table was piled high with appetizers, as you can see.

The drinks were plentiful, and yummy.

But the most commented on of all the appetizers? Why yes! It was the Red Pepper Bruschetta.

Super easy to make, super easy to eat, too. After roasting your peppers, just toss them in a bag and drizzle with a little olive oil and a couple of cloves of garlic. Top toasted whole grain bread with the color and roasted taste of the peppers. Done. Easy-peasy. And just in case you need a primer on how to roast peppers, here's a quick video to show how to do it!