Whip up this tasty olive tapenade to accompany your next salmon dish. It’s great on crackers too if you need to start off with an appetizer. This recipe is in partnership with California Ripe Olives.
Have you ever thought about what you would do if you could have a re-do in life? I have no problem where I’ve ended up, but I would probably head to culinary school after college if I had the chance to make a change or two. That’s probably going to be my biggest regret that we don’t have a school nearby.
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of traveling to St. Helena, California on behalf of California Ripe OlivesCalifornia Ripe Olives. One of the best parts is that we were learning all about olives at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
That weekend I ate my way through olives from appetizers to delicious desserts served up from CIA Chef Paul Irving and Elise from Simply Recipes. Our olives consisted of regular olives from the cans, smoked olives (a must), dehydrated olives to candied olives. If you’ve never tried olives before, the California Ripe Olives are an excellent way to start since they have a nice mild, buttery taste to them.
During one of our afternoon sessions, we got to sit down with local olive farmers as well as individuals involved in the processing plants. You could see the true passion that they had from being in a “family business” and their love for olives.
Some interesting olive facts
- Olive trees have been in existence for 8,000 years
- Olives are a fruit
- Olives straight from the tree do not taste good (at all), they need to be cured
- Curing is a 7-day process
- All olives start off as green olives and then later when they are introduced to oxygen in the processing plant do they turn black
(baby olives)
I came away from that trip wanting an olive orchard in my back yard and a true craving for olives on a daily basis.
ENJOY ~ Meagan
Roasted Salmon Olive Tapenade
Ingredients
- 1 cup California Ripe green olives
- 1/2 cup California Ripe black olives
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped basil
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 4-ounce salmon fillets
Instructions
In a food processor add olives, garlic, basil and olive oil. Pulse until olives are chopped up. Season the top of the salmon with salt. Place the salmon skin side down on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Broil for 8 minutes or until salmon pulls apart with a fork in flakes. Top with a spoonful of the tapenade.
Get more info and recipes at CalOlive.org and on Facebook.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of California Olive Committee. All opinions are 100% my own and I appreciate your support on the brands that I love.