Sun-Dried Tomato Black Olive Tapenade
Tapenade is a popular food in the south of France, where it is generally eaten as an hors d'oeuvre, spread on bread. It is usually made with finely diced olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil.
I used to make this tapenade with a lot of olive oil. It was quite tasty, but loaded with calories. Today's version is much lighter, with only 20 calories per tablespoon. We like it with non-dairy cream cheese on a cracker. For five crackers, we used only 3 tablespoons and had ample flavor.
This is a quick and easy appetizer or snack made from ingredients you probably have in your pantry.
1 package sun-dried tomatoes (3.5 ounce bag- not the packed in olive oil variety- just plain tomatoes.)
1 1/2 cups drained black olives ( one can)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 glove garlic, sliced
2/3 cup reserved water used in rehydrating tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. After 10 minutes, drain the tomatoes and save the liquid.
Place the tomatoes, olives, oil and garlic in a blender or food processor with 2/3 cup reserved liquid from the tomatoes.
Process until the desired consistency. We like it a little chunky. If necessary, add more of the reserved liquid.
Makes 2 cups (32 tablespoons) and it has 20 calories a tablespoon.
Alternate use:
Place about 1/2-2/3 cup of tapenade in a large skillet with a few tablespoons of cashew cream or a non-dairy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked, hot pasta and toss. Enjoy!
Delicata Squash Spread
I ordered a Butternut Squash Dip at a local restaurant over the weekend. I was intrigued by a dip made from winter squash. It was served with grilled pita bread and was more a spread than a dip. I rather enjoyed it, but thought it could use a little less garlic and pepper and perhaps a sweeter squash. I asked the waiter what the ingredients were and the next thing I knew I had the recipe in my hand. I lightened it up by leaving out the olive oil used to sauté the onions. I decreased the garlic, left out black and red pepper and added a little cayenne.
It was good right after I made it, but it was better the second day. Today I had some on a rye cracker with Tofutti cream cheese and found it to be divine.
Delicata is a type of winter squash that is a bit sweeter than the butternut squash. It is an oval shape, 6-12 inches long and a yellow skin with green stripes.
Winter squash is very high in vitamin A, and also contains vitamins B, K, B2, as well as fiber manganese, copper, potassium, tryptophan, fiber and omega-3 fats.
1 medium Delicata (or Sweet Dumpling) winter squash
1/8 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (plain, not in olive oil)
1 cup diced sweet onion
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with spray oil.
Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Place cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until soft. Remove the oven and cool.
While the squash is baking, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with warm water and set aside.
Coat a skillet with spray oil and sauté the onions until translucent.
Remove the squash from the skin with a spoon and measure 1 3/4 cups.
Drain the sun-dried tomatoes.
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times until mixed and smooth.
Refrigerate overnight (or serve right away if you wish). Serve with crackers, pita or French bread.
Makes 2 1/2 cups. Just 24 calories per 1/4 cup.
Conadria Fig and Kalamata Olive Tapenande
I have taken liberties in calling this a tapenade. A traditional tapenade is a dish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil. Tapenandes originated in France.
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup chopped dried Conadria figs
2/3 cup Kalamata olives, drained
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Simmer the orange juice and figs together until most of the liquid is absorbed 5-6 minutes.
Place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times to chop.
Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop.
Makes 1 1/2 cups. 26 calories per tablespoon.
I had this on a rye cracker with some Tofutti cream cheese. It would be great on a sliced baguette or with raw vegetables as well.
the juice of two lemons
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 15 ounce cans of low salt garbanzo beans (or substitute dried garbanzos that have been cooked)
Drain the garbanzo beans and reserve the liquid. You will need it later.
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop the beans
Gradually add a little of the reserved bean liquid and run the food processor on a medium speed.
Keep adding the reserved liquid until you have the texture you desire. We used about 3/4 cup of the reserved liquid.
Serve with pita bread, crackers, chips, fresh vegetables, use as a spread on a sandwich, etc
Makes 5 cups
Most hummus you buy in the store gives you the calorie count for 2 tablespoons. I don't know anyone who can eat just 2 tablespoons, but here it is anyways:
2 tablespoons 37 calories
1/4 cup 74 calories
1/2 cup 148 calories
1 cup 296 calories
Hummus
the juice of two lemons
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 15 ounce cans of low salt garbanzo beans (or substitute dried garbanzos that have been cooked)
Drain the garbanzo beans and reserve the liquid. You will need it later.
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop the beans
Gradually add a little of the reserved bean liquid and run the food processor on a medium speed.
Keep adding the reserved liquid until you have the texture you desire. We used about 3/4 cup of the reserved liquid.
Serve with pita bread, crackers, chips, fresh vegetables, use as a spread on a sandwich, etc
Makes 5 cups
Most hummus you buy in the store gives you the calorie count for 2 tablespoons. I don't know anyone who can eat just 2 tablespoons, but here it is anyways:
2 tablespoons 37 calories
1/4 cup 74 calories
1/2 cup 148 calories
1 cup 296 calories
Baba Ghanouj
(Baba Ganoush)
Baba Ghanouj is a middle eastern dish of mashed roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon and spices. It is usually served with pita bread.
Baba Ghanouj is a middle eastern dish of mashed roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon and spices. It is usually served with pita bread.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with spray oil.
3 small Asian eggplants, cut in half, lengthwise and poked several times with a fork
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
a few sprigs fresh parsley
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
a dash of cumin
a dash of sea salt
Place the eggplants cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes.
With a spoon scoop out the eggplant to make 1 cup. Discard the skin. If there is a lot of liquid, drain your eggplant and then measure it. The Asian eggplant don't produce as much liquid as American eggplant.
Place the eggplant and all of the other ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth.
Makes 5 servings, 1/4 cup each. Each serving has 43 calories.
I served this with some raw veggies, two of small pitas, and 8 of our baked corn chips. The total calorie count for the scrumptious snack was about 140 calories. (The photo shows an 8 1/2 inch sandwich plate)
Baked corn chips: Cut a 6 inch corn tortilla into 8 pieces. Coat a baking sheet with spray oil. Place the tortilla pieces on the baking sheet and spray them with the oil. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. For a taco salad we cut the tortilla into strips rather than wedges.
Vegan Vanilla Caramel Sauce
We took a drive out to apple and pear orchards in Hood River, Oregon yesterday. It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day and a great drive along the Columbia River.
We drove the entire Fruit Loop and came home a variety of apples, pears, cider and hard cider.
The cider is fresh from Mt. View Orchards. You can watch them press the cider and in the orchard under the trees.
The hard cider is from Fox Tail Cider (right next to Smiley's Red Barn.
They make 7 varieties of hard cider on site. You can taste one for $1.50 or all seven for $8.00. Once you pick your favorites you can buy by the glass, or take a home a 32 or 64 ounce growler. The 32 ounce is $14.00 and the 64 ounce is $20.00. They offer $2.00 off when you return to refill your growler.
They also have a lunch menu- it is small and simple but hit the spot.
The recipe:
2 cups evaporated cane juice
12 tablespoons Earth Balance cube margarine
1 cup non-dairy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla (real, not imitation)- I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla
In a large 3-4 quart heavy bottom pan, melt sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until an amber to brown color. This will happen very quickly. It will go from melted to burned in a matter of seconds.
Stir in margarine until melted. The mixture will bubble up a bit.
Remove from heat and slowly whisk in non-dairy cream. It really bubble up a lot when you do this. Don't scrape the sides of the pan. This is why you need a large pan.
Stir in the vanilla.
Pour into a glass jar without scrapping the sides of the pan. Let cool to room temp (3-4 hours), then cover and refrigerate.
This is a pourable sauce. if you wish a thicker sauce, decrease the cream a bit.
Makes 3 cups. It has 55 calories per tablespoon.
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