Moroccan Tapenade ... With A Kick

Another recipe I found for the tapas night was this amazing tapenade!  I love tapenade anyway, but this one has a spicy little kick that is so great. 

The only thing I really changed about this is the amount of olive oil I used and the method ... and I doubled their original recipe to make two cups.

400 g Kalamata olives, pitted
3 big cloves of garlic
2 tablespoon harissa (definitely adjust to taste!)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
a handful of chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup olive oil

Throw everything into a food processor and process until desired consistency is reached. 

I served with a thick crunchy crouton type cracker.  You could serve with any cracker or bread!

the mini-me ~ a bella russia original

last night we did pizza night with friends

it is tradition with these friends that you make your signature pizza on your first visit

so, last night ... it was Bel's first visit ... and she pulled off a ripper

THE MINI-ME

she calls it

You will need ...

Pizza dough
Tomato based pizza sauce
Kalamata olives, diced
Red onion, slivered
Feta cheese, finely diced
Broccoli, finely diced
Sun dried tomatoes, finely diced
Fresh parsley
Mozarella

Yogurt or sour cream
Garlic, crushed
Fresh chives, chopped

Here's how you make it ...

Mix yogurt (or sour cream) with garlic and chives to taste. Set aside.

From Bel ... and I quote "The key with the mini-me is the spacing and finely chopped-ness. It is a vegetarian dish from the backstreets of Florence. The recipe has been passed down through families over centuries and was initially dated back to some time near AD250."

Everything after her first sentence may or may not be fictional ....

Using your favorite pizza dough, spread it with a tomato based pizza sauce, evenly space all ingredients (as you will see demonstrated in the photo below). Top with a light sprinkling of mozzarella. Cook in pizza oven, BBQ or oven .... you decide.

Top with garlic chive yogurt ...

Prosciutto Pizza

You all may have noticed that we have a new addition to the beans blog ! Andrea posted her first recipe today !! I'm very excited about this !! She's always talking (on facebook) about amazing things she makes that I finally just sent her an invite and a suggestion that she post some of them here ! I think you all are going to be as glad as me that she took me up on the offer !!

And now ... the Prosciutto Pizza recipe !!

This was so yummy.
I started with a homemade pizza dough. I make mine in my breadmaker. Easy.

For the topping.
I used a few scoops of Roasted Garlic and Onion Pasta Sauce for the base.
Baby Spinach
Prosciutto, I used about 7 thin slices
Basil leaves, I used Greek Basil (from my garden) which has very small leaves
Kalamata Olives
Mozarella Cheese

Baked in a pre-heated 200 C oven for about 10/15 minutes til cheese was my desired level of brown ... and dough was cooked.



~~

PS ... The photo in my last post was of a lamington ...

Israeli Cous Cous Salad

The recipe I used as a guide ... but didn't follow exactly, I found HERE.

I made this as a main. We're trying to eat light. This was maybe a bit too light.
Would be perfect beside a nice piece of fish ...

Here's how I made it ...

one bag (250g) Israeli cous cous (I think you could substitute Orzo/Rissoni if you can't find this)
6 spring onions, sliced
100g feta, crumbled ( I didn't measure ... I just crumbled some in )
24 or so black (I used Kalamata) olives, stoned and chopped
24 or so cherry tomatoes, chopped ( I didn't have cherry, oops ... I bought them but we had munched them away !! ) I just chopped up regular tomato.
50g toasted pine nuts
parsley
half a lemon & some good extra virgin olive oil


Cook the cous cous according to packet instructions. Drain and run under cold water. Combine with the other ingredients and dress with 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Tapenade

Years ago, my friend Dawn gave me these two delicious tapenade recipes. I've been making them ever since. I like the olive one best but I'll give you both recipes ...

The one I made tonight isn't either. That's one thing I love about these recipes ... they are so flexible and taste good pretty much regardless of measurements or forgetting to put things in or not having the right ingredients ... my sister in law Gina's kind of recipe !! :)

Last night at dinner, my brother in law Steve mentioned that he'd like this recipe. I don't know why I don't have it on the blog yet but I don't so I had intended doing it soon to put it up.

Tonight, I was trying to figure out what on earth to feed the kids for dinner since tomorrow is shopping day and the fridge is close to empty !! Rory and I are having aliolio later, after he gets home from church ... but it's not really good leftover so I didn't want to cook that for them and .... oh, never mind !! Boring details !!

I had some leftover plain pasta in the fridge. I had some olives and sun dried tomatoes and so I whipped up some tapenade, mixed it through the pasta and topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Here's how you do it.

Sun dried Tomato Tapenade

Sun dried tomatoes in oil ( large jar )
1/2 bulb fresh garlic ... crushed
2 TBLS pitted black olives
1 tsp salt
Blend in food processor until smooth

Olive Tapenade

Black Pitted Olives (large jar or can)
1/2 bulb fresh garlic ... crushed
2 TBLS capers
Sun dried tomatoes in oil (small jar)
1 tsp salt

Use some of the vinegar from the olives and some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes, blend all ingredients in food processor til smooth.

The Tapenade I Made Tonight

Black Pitted Olives 1/2 jar
Kalamata Olives 1/2 jar
2 TBLS capers
Sun dried tomatoes in oil 1/2 jar

I forgot to put in garlic and salt. I'd normally do the garlic but not the salt. I think the olives make it salty enough !!

Use some of the vinegar from the olives and some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes, blend all ingredients in food processor til smooth.

Delicious !

I have packed all of our lunches for tomorrow with some tapenade and crackers ... and I even had a snack since I am waiting for Rory to get home before we eat.

Did the kids like the pasta ?

I'll let the empty bowls speak for themselves ...

Zucchini Ankara

My dear friend Kim prepared this one day when we were visiting, and I LOVED it! It is really simple to prepare and so good for you!

Zucchini Ankara

2 cups chopped onion
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 zucchini or yellow squash, cut into half-moons about 1/2 inch thick
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 cup cooked, drained, garbanzo beans
1/2 cup sliced pitted black olives, preferably salty Greek ones
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
juice of a lemon
salt
black pepper
5 ounces feta cheese

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Add the squash and marjoram and cook on medium heat, stirring often,
until the squash is just tender. If the squash hasn't released enough
liquid to simmer in, add 1/4 cup of water. This should be a juicy
dish. Add the beans, cumin or mint, lemon, and seasonings.
Remember that if the feta that will be added later is quite salty, little
or no salt will be needed in the vegetables themselves. Continue
cooking until everything is thoroughly heated. The squash should
not become overly soft.

Adjust lemon and herbs to taste, and ladle the vegetables over rice
or couscous. Top with grated feta and serve immediately.

We'll try *THIS* variation next time.

Stress Free Pasta

Stress Free Pasta
Sara Snow

1 lb whole-wheat pasta
4 cloves garlic - diced
1 28oz can of whole or quartered tomatoes
1 jar Greek olives
1/8 cup capers
1 pound fresh organic spinach
Fresh oregano – chopped
Fresh basil – chopped

Cook pasta according to directions. Sauté garlic.
Add tomatoes, olives, capers and spices.
Toss in spinach at the last minute so that it wilts, but doesn’t cook through.
Toss in pasta.
Serve w/ spinach salad drizzled w/ flax seed oil (omega 3 for brain and heart health) and soy sauce.