Egg Salad with Herbs, Capers, and Black Olives

I love olives. Stuffed or plain, pitted or un-, green or black, I love them all. I have cooked with them, I have baked with them, I have altered them, there is no way that I don’t enjoy them. My favorite cocktail is a dirty martini, so I even enjoy the juice. What I’m trying to say here is that, for me, olive shopping is a thing, and many times (way too many times) I get a little over enthusiastic. When I do, I am looking for ways to make use of them. Today I got the idea to put them in egg salad, something that I have been craving. What a delicious difference! There are so many tasty ingredients in this egg salad that it is loaded with flavor. Add this recipe to your egg salad rotation. You cannot help but love it.

 Egg Salad with Herbs, Capers, and Black Olives

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 heaping T. Duke’s mayonnaise
1 T. sour cream
1/3 c. sliced black olives
1 rib celery, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1 T. chopped Melissa’s pickled jalapeños
1 T. chopped capers
1 T. chopped parsley
1 T. chopped dill
1 t. fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and gently fold together until thoroughly blended. Refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour in order to meld flavors.

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Lemon Olive Pesto

I don’t know what’s happening at your house, but it is pesto season at mine. The basil that I planted in the spring has grown by leaps and bounds and is ready for harvest. I have a lot of new pesto recipes to try, but thought I would start with this one. It is adapted from one that I saw on the Melissa's website. I’ve never made pesto without including Parmesan cheese, so was curious as to whether or not this would be as rich and delicious as other pesto that I’ve made. It was! The citrus juice and peel gives it a wonderful brightness, the olives a magnificent, buttery depth. If you like olives as much as I do, you may want to make a double batch.

Lemon Olive Pesto

 8 oz. Castelvetrano olives, pitted

½ c. fresh basil leaves

½ c. flat-leaf Italian parsley

½ c. walnut halves

1 T. organic capers, rinsed

1 lemon, juiced and zested*

¼ t. kosher salt

½ t. red pepper flakes

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

 Place all ingredients EXCEPT oil into the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until combined. With motor running, slowly add oil until combined and desired texture is reached.

 *Zest before juicing

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Chicken with Olives & Capers

Delicious, company-worthy food need not take a lot of effort. This beautiful chicken dish, the recipe of which I found in Sweet Paul’s cookbook, Sweet Paul Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love, couldn’t be easier. A handful of ingredients, in my case, an hour in the oven, yielded a unique, tender, juicy piece of chicken in a wonderfully different, light lemony sauce. It was so good, that I have decided to always keep a jar of mixed olives on hand so that I can make it whenever I want. My guess is, it would do well to be served on a bed of mashed potatoes so that the juices can be absorbed, flavoring every mouthful of mash. I marinated mine in buttermilk in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for four hours before making this dish. I patted each chicken thigh dry with a paper towel before placing into the baking dish. Wonderful!

Chicken with Olives & Capers

from Sweet Paul Eat & Make

Serves 4

4 large or 8 small organic chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

1 lemon, cut into wedges

1 cup mixed pitted olives

2 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

NOTE: I had to bake this close to an hour before the skin became brown and got crispy, and the internal temperature reached 165°.

Preheat the oven to 400°F, with a rack in the middle position.

Place the chicken, skin side up, in a baking dish. Scatter the lemon wedges, olives, and capers on top of the chicken.

Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake until golden, basting with the juices once, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 165°F. Serve.

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Deviled Eggs with Cucumber, Dill, and Capers

Yesterday I reviewed the wonderful new book, Martha Stewart's Appetizers. Today I am going to share with you one of the many simple recipes from this book. I am a huge fan of the deviled egg, and really appreciated the varieties featured in this volume. I also happen to like cucumbers, a lot, so thought this fresh variety sounded quite good. As it turned out, it was. Deviled eggs always seem like such wonderful bites of summer, but the addition of the cucumber here made it seem all the more so.

Deviled Eggs with Cucumber, Dill, and Capers
Makes 16

8 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped capers
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced (I used Melissa’s mini cucumbers)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a saucepan, cover eggs with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 8 minutes. Drain eggs; run under cold water until cool enough to handle.

Peel eggs and halve lengthwise; remove yolks and transfer to a bowl. Mash with a fork, then mix in mustard, yogurt, dill, capers, and cucumber. Season with salt and pepper.

Fill whites with yolk mixture as desired (i.e. piping with a plain or open star tip or, as I did, simply spoon it in). Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.

This post is linked to:

Munching Mondays
Busy Mondays

Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tweak it Tuesday

Tickle my Tastebuds
Two Cup Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Red Pepper Deviled Eggs

When I say the words “deviled eggs” what is the first thing that comes to your mind?  Summer?  Picnics?  Barbecues?  Yeah, me too.  Why is that?  Why are deviled eggs almost solely associated with warm days?  From my experience, people love them.  Every time I make them I am almost immediately struck by the fact that I haven’t made enough, particularly since they have usually been scooped up and devoured long before I can get to them.

So, I am declaring the deviled egg as a year round food. Happy?  Me too.  Now I don’t have to wait until spring to make the first batch. 

Wasting no time, I dug out this recipe that has been lurking in my recipe box since the seventies.  The paper had turned yellow, the edges had crumbled, the picture obliterated with age, and much of the text was nearly unreadable (consequently I have no idea as to the source, though I suspect it’s from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  I am so glad that I didn't wait until summer.  These are delicious!  Now to hide them from the mister.

Red Pepper Deviled Eggs

(a.k.a. The Best Deviled Eggs that I have ever eaten!)

6 hard-cooked, extra-large eggs, cooled, peeled, and halved

1/3 cup Melissa’s Fire Roasted Sweet Red Peppers, diced

1 tablespoon capers

2 teaspoons minced shallot

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dried basil

Remove yolks from egg halves.  Place in a medium bowl; mash with a fork.  Add roasted peppers, capers, shallot, mustard, mayonnaise, and ½ teaspoon dried basil.  Stir/mash to combine.

Fill a pastry bag (or Ziploc sandwich bag with the corner cut off) fitted with a star tip with the yolk mixture.  Pipe decoratively into the white halves.  Cover delicately with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with remaining basil just prior to serving.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Create It or Bake It

Seasonal Sundays