[olive bar] Tapenade

Here's a neat recipe to bring you to the olive bar at your favorite grocer. It is high in salt and omega-3 fatty acids, so be mindful of how much you eat.

Choose a pint of olives from the olive bar of your choice. I like to get mostly the darker olives to a 3:1 ration with green olives. You might also like to get a half-pint or so of roasted red pepper, marinated mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, etc...whatever you like.

Olive oil, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, maybe a small minced shallot...

Mince the olives (garlic, shallot and the other marinated veggies) and place in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoons of olive oil and 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Heat gently over a low flame until the mixture is heated through. If needed, add water to bring to reasonable thickness.

This is absolutely wonderful as a dressing for whole wheat linguine lightly tossed with lemon and olive oil. For a vegetarian option consider adding cannoli beans and artichoke heart. For a meat choice, I love adding seared fresh tuna that is thinly sliced.

My favorite Cleveland crepe shop would make a spinach, tomato and brie crepe topped with a similar tapenade accompanied by a mixed baby green salad. Be sure to chiffonade the spinach for this (and in my opinion) and cooked spinach dish.