Green Olive Tapenade

There are few foods I can absolutely not tolerate; the main one is bleu cheese. But high on the list are black olives and raw tomatoes. I can handle raw tomatoes if they're thinly sliced or diced in a salad or sandwich, especially when they're actually in season. And I thought I didn't like olives at all.

But it turns out that black olives (the most commonly encountered olive) are packaged unripe and set in a solution to make them ripen artificially. I first found out I like green olives when I tried a piece of green olive focaccia. Turns out they're great on Italian sandwiches. If you've never had them, give them a try; a small piece of one by itself. You know what I think they taste like? Salty, oily... root beer. I swear, green olives and root beer share a flavoring of some kind.

So here's my simple green olive tapenade. I'm going traditional here, using the very basics of a tapenade. You can add other things, like herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary), pepper, maybe even pine nuts. It certainly does not need salt, however.

• 1 cup green olives, pitted
• 1-2 tablespoons capers, drained
  
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 anchovy filets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  

That's it. Just whir it in a food processor until smooth, or do it the old-fashioned way, with a mortar and pestle. Looks pretty, don't it? Leave out the anchovies and you've got yourself a vegetarian and vegen-friendly spread. You might want to add some more capers in that case. It's gluten-free and lactose-free, too!

Serve on bread or crackers, or spread on sandwiches. In fact, this post is the first of many dedicated to Italian-style sandwiches. More later.

By the way, if you do what I did and accidentally buy olives with pits in them, you'll have to pit them yourself. Luckily it's not too hard, just smash them with the side of a large knife, just like you would a garlic clove. (Although, you don't need to use as much force; you can lay your knife on the olive and firmly press down with the heel of your other hand. No need to whack it.) Then just peel away the fruit and discard the pits. Be careful, it's slippery. Here you can see whole olives, smashed olives, pits, and pitted olives.