The turn of the year is a perfect opportunity to welcome healthy and nutritious foods. It’s also a chance to explore new foods or new ways to use your favorite foods.
My relatives have been fans of pickles and olives for as long as I can remember.
My father’s youngest sister likes black olives so much that several family members gave her huge cans of them as a gag gift for her high school graduation.
My sister and I helped her empty all of those cans during our summer visit to grandma’s house.
Nowadays, almost every grocery store trip includes picking up a container of one of these versatile finger foods for my children.
I often use pickles to give dishes, such as chicken salad or deviled eggs, an extra crunch.
I use olives a lot when I want to add a bitter or salty element to a dish. I’m not too much of a fan of just pouring salt on my dish. It’s that little extra that makes a dish really good sometimes.
The versatile table olive is a round product (in every way) that makes other foods better such as chicken, beef, salmon, rice, fish, quinoa, pasta, octopus, hummus, chocolate or avocado.
The superfood pairs perfectly with all kinds of ingredients, giving way to countless dishes and dressings and it contains an explosion of flavors: bitter, sweet, salty and acid. In addition, olives can be found in countless forms: whole, sliced, without pit …
Below is a recipe for Spanish spaghetti with olives, which is something I make at home quite a bit. I didn’t know it was a Spanish dish until recently.
The other two recipes come from the European Union and Interaceituna, a group that promotes European olives throughout the world.
SPANISH SPAGHETTI WITH OLIVES
Ingredients
8 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti*
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (I leave this out)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed saffron threads (optional)
8 ounces ground beef
1 2/3 cups marinara sauce
2 ounces pimiento-stuffed olives, sliced (about ½ cup)
¼ cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon capers
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
Directions
■ In a bigger pan on medium heat add olive oil and onions. Cook for about 4 minutes.
■ Mix in garlic, both peppers, oregano, celery salt and saffron and cook for another minute.
■ Add the ground beef and brown it, about 5 minutes.
■ Stir in the marinara sauce, olives, sherry, capers and 3 Tablespoons fresh parsley.
■ Simmer for 15 minutes.
■ While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta until al dente.
■ Add the drained pasta to the sauce. Mix well and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
OLIVES AND VEGETABLE POKE BOWL
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
5 oz. Spanish Queen olives (they’re green)
7 oz. of basmati rice
7 oz. of salmon loins without skin
1 avocado
1 peeled carrot
1 cucumber
4 chives
2 Tbsp. sesame toasted or black
1.7 fl. oz. of soy
1 fl. oz. sesame oil
1 cup water for cooking rice
1 cup water for cucumber
¼ cup of sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions
■ Wash the rice in a pot until the starch is removed. Strain it. Add water, let stand 15 minutes and boil for 17 minutes with the pot covered. Remove from heat, stir and let rest for 10 minutes more in its covered pot. Put on a tray and extend a little to release the excess steam.
■ Cut the avocado into slices along its length. The tails of the onion are chopped into thin slices and the green part into strips. Grate the carrot ideally with a spaghetti type grater. The cucumber we let it rest in the water with salt and sugar in half slices with its skin for 15 min.
■ Cut the salmon into slices and marinate for 5 minutes in the soy and sesame oil.
■ In a bowl put a base of rice, and mount on the sides the avocado, cucumber, carrot and salmon. Sprinkle the spring onion, the juice of the marinade of the salmon, toasted sesame and in the center the tails of spring onion. If we want the latter to be more crispy let them rest for 10 minutes in water with abundant ice.
■ Finish by cutting the olives in quarters and adding them to the Poke bowl.
SIRLOIN STEAK TARTAR WITH OLIVES
Ingredients (1 unit)
1.76 Oz. sirloin steak
0.18 Oz. Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
Soy sauce
Cacereña olives
Manzanilla olives
2 chive sprigs
Directions
■ Cut with a knife in very small dice the veal, olives and chives.
■ Mix well with oil, salt, soy sauce, mustard and egg yolk (to make it compact).
■ Serve and enjoy!
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