marinated olives and feta

Got a “salt tooth”? This is definitely in the top five fastest, easiest, impossible-to-mess-up, quickest appetizers that makes you feel like an extremely wealthy person. There is something about this that feels extremely rich and fancy. Pretend you’re at a rich person’s dinner party after TEN minutes of effort, AND you still get to wear sweatpants.

I love and crave olives. Sometimes I get cheapo green olives stuffed with pimentos, usually for a recipe like pastelón or a bloody mary party. They’re around $2 from the dollar store or a discount food store, and much easier to find than a fancy oil-cured olive. If you have a discount warehouse in your area, like Costco, you might be surprised how affordable even a really nice olive like a Castelvetrano can be in bulk.

I was expecting this recipe to be okay, more of a way to use up leftover olives than anything else. I was NOT expecting this to be my new favorite thing. Feta is increasingly outside of my budget – but happily, Aldi still carries a $3 brick of feta in brine. That means this “appetizer” is under $5 to make. Why did I put appetizer in quotes? Well…… I started making this recipe around a year and a half ago, and in that time I used an entire industrial-sized bucket of olives. This isn’t just a good recipe. It’s truly great.

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I didn’t measure any of this – it’s not really that kind of recipe – but I’ll include the measurements from the original from Bone Apple Teeth in case you’re a measurer. (Double the recipe if you’re sharing this for dinner!)

4 oz olives
3 garlic cloves
1 lemon, peeled into strips
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
3 oz brick feta (not crumbles)

Smash the garlic cloves and olives, remove peel from lemon in wide strips, add every ingredient except for the feta to a saucepan and “sizzle” over medium-low heat for five to ten minutes or until your kitchen smells quite garlicky.

Add feta, crumbled into large chunks, into a jar. Pour the mixture over the feta. Let sit for an hour, if you are patient enough.

Pro tip: if you refrigerate it and the oil goes semi-solid, just leave the mixture (still in the jar, or in a small bowl) on top of your toaster oven as you toast some bread, and the ambient heat will melt the oil.

Transfer mixture to a small bowl, dunk your bread in there, and enjoy!

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recipe written and created by Claire Saffitz from Bone Apple Teeth

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If you’re not into bread, I *highly* recommend this as a salad dressing. (I’ve had it for lunch, served over greens, several times over the past few weeks. Add some grains like cracked wheat or quinoa and it’s filling!) If that sounds too healthy, you can use this as a pasta sauce, use cold as a dressing for a grain salad like farro or spelt, eat with baked or fried fish or even use as a dressing for canned tuna, or serve with roasted veggies. This would be amazing dumped over some ratattouille, thrown on top of a white bean stew, or even as a dressing for potato salad.

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Is it low-sodium? No. Is it heart-healthy? Sure! Harvard Medical School says that a diet rich in olive oil is associated with longevity, and the Cleveland Clinic says that olives are a great source of vitamin E, fiber, and may even reduce your cholesterol and high blood pressure. Did I check the validity of the studies quoted by these medical experts? Nope! Would I eat this even if it was associated with negative health outcomes? Yes! Nobody can keep me away from this meal I have been consistently craving.

Enjoy!

snack peanuts (Indian masala peanuts)

What a super-healthy and delicious way to kick some flavor into peanuts! This recipe by indianhealthyrecipes is wonderful and savory. Seasoned peanuts with NO sugar and barely any oil!

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1 c peanuts

1/4 c besan

2 T rice flour or corn starch

1/2 t chili powder

1/4-1/2 t garam masala

1 t ginger-garlic powder

1/2 t ajwain/carom seed

1 sprig curry leaves or mint leaves finely chopped

salt to taste (she suggests 1/3t)

oil (optional)

1/2 t amchur powder or chaat masala powder (optional)

1/8 t turmeric (optional)

The original recipe suggests lining a baking sheet with parchment, and heating your oven to 180C (which is 356 Fahrenheit). I HIGHLY recommend 425F – keep reading to find out why.

Rinse peanuts in water so the spice blend sticks. Add all your seasonings, and then the flour blend. Drip about a tablespoon of water over the peanuts, drip by drip, so the flours stick. She warns that with too much water, the flour will clump together and fall off the peanuts. You can also coat or drip with oil if you like them crunchy!

Sprinkle the oil over the nuts and bake for 10-12 min. If peanuts are still soft, keep baking. You can also deep fry these peanuts if you like them extra-crunchy!

 

recipe by Swasthi of Indian Healthy Recipes

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I tried the recipe as written, at 350F. The peanuts ended up a bit soft, and without that lovely golden brown color I was dreaming of. I think that may be too low to trigger the Maillard reaction. After 15 minutes, the peanuts still had a sort of pale look to them, and had developed an almost soft and chewy texture. Kicking up the heat to 425F and roasting for an additional few minutes lent the peanuts more of a roasted peanut texture and a toasty flavor. In fact, the flavor of toasted rice is AMAZING, and used in Thai and Lao cooking as a seasoning! The texture of the besan is…. we’ll say “an acquired taste,” as it’s a bit grainier than the delicate rice flour. Definitely adds something, and if you like that “something” – go for it! Although I LOVE chickpea flour in socca/farinata, I may leave it out next time.

I used just water to stick the seasonings and flour onto the peanuts, and next time I will definitely try a bit of oil to see if that improves the crunchiness.

Since raw skin-on peanuts are dirt cheap at my local Chinese grocery store, without a doubt I plan to make about a million more batches of these peanuts. If I tweak the recipe at all, I’ll update this page.

Do you have a favorite snack nut recipe? I made these “special nuts” in 2011 – not quite as healthy, but definitely delicious if you have any “special butter” to use. Drop your favorite snack nut recipe in the comments, and let me know if you try Swasthi’s recipe!

mast o khiar (persian yogurt and cucumber dip)

This is good. I mean, this is really, really good. & it’s actually healthy.

My favorite snack last week. Scooped this up with some rice-and-nut crackers. A little sweet, a little savory, and very cooling from the mint and yogurt. Perfect snack for a hot August day!

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4 cups plain yogurt
2 cups chopped or grated cucumber
2 tbsp dry mint
1/2 cup chopped nuts, like walnuts (pecans were good, too)
1/2 cup raisins
salt and pepper, to taste
(optional: sprinkle dried rose petals over the top for a floral flavor and/or a fancy look)

mix, refrigerate at least 30 mins, and serve with anything to dip, like lavash or pita bread, crackers, or veggies.

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adapted by friedsig from unicorns in the kitchen

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Unicorns in the Kitchen says that the raisins and nuts have a warming nature, and the yogurt and mint has a cooling nature, so this dish is balanced. (She is from Iran and lived in Turkey, so she knows what she’s talking about, unlike me!)

Of course, once I made this recipe and thought, “How have I never heard of this before?!” I realized I HAD posted a very similar recipe to this five years ago, as abdoogh khiar (5-minute cold cucumber yogurt soup). I am not sure that I think of this as a soup, but what differentiates a soup and a dip? Is it consistency? Is this veering too close to the “is a hot dog a sandwich?” debate?

Thanks to Unicorns in the Kitchen for this amazing recipe. Definitely my new favorite way to use endless summer cucumber gifts from the coworkers whose gardens weren’t completely destroyed by a freak hail storm!

If you’re one of those people with the incredibly lucky “problem” of working from home during COVID-19 and being allowed to snack all day, this is the kind of healthy snack that you can chomp on mindlessly all day. (Also… if this is a problem for you… is your job hiring?)

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What if you don’t like fruit and nuts? If you’re into the cooling, high-summer “cucumber and plain yogurt” vibe, this fennel and cucumber salad is delicious. If you are looking for something warming, though, I highly, highly recommend this Sichuan cucumber salad! If you want something that tastes like a Jersey sub sandwich, and has a mixture of those cooling and warming flavors, this charred onion and cucumber salad has that flavor that would be perfect on a sandwich!

roasted artichoke and spinach melts

Everything you love about spinach and artichoke dip, combined with everything you love about grilled cheese!

ROASTED ARTICHOKES:

Drain a large can of artichokes. If the artichokes are marinated in oil and spices, leave them plain. If they are packed in saltwater, rinse and toss them in olive oil and Italian seasoning like thyme and oregano. Add a few whole cloves of garlic to add to the dip. Roast at 425 until crispy.

SPINACH-ARTICHOKE DIP:

Add the following to blender: roasted artichoke hearts, one large pack of spinach that you have blanched or steamed or sauteed, red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste, a pinch of garlic powder, roasted garlic cloves (or raw minced garlic if you’re daring,) and any combination of creamy things like plain yogurt, mayo, cream cheese, or their vegan substitutions.

ARTICHOKE-SPINACH MELTS:

Butter slices of bread, sprinkle with garlic powder, and toast in your toaster oven. When it’s almost crispy garlic bread, top the slices of bread with spinach-artichoke dip and tons of shredded cheese. You can use any blend of cheeses. (I used just sharp cheddar.) Place on small baking tray and toast in toaster oven, or bake at 425 for maybe 7 min or so.

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roasted artichoke recipe adapted from Anna Stockwell @epi – sandwich recipe adapted from Deb Perelman @Bon Appetit

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Exactly as good as it sounds. Fantastic way to trick yourself into getting some serious greens!

abdoogh khiar (5-minute cold cucumber yogurt soup)

Looking for a very healthy and very fast snack to add to a healthy meal? Maybe you have the heat cranked up and you’re pretending it’s summer. Maybe you just have something summery to celebrate. Maybe you worked up a sweat shoveling snow, and you want to cool off. Or maybe you need something cold and refreshing to enjoy with a spicy, hearty stew.

This Persian cold soup, from aashpazi, looks like a delicious variation of an Indian raita!

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Just dice 2 cucumbers into 1/2 cup shredded walnuts, a ton of fresh herbs (they recommend tarragon, mint, basil, and chives, but whatever you have in the house will be good,) and 1/4 c raisins. Stir in 2 cups of yogurt and 6-8 ice cubes, with water if you prefer. Season with salt and pepper. Top with dried mint and rose leaves. (or not.)

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adapted from aashpazi… check out the photos of the rose petals on top!

beet salad with dilled yogurt

400g beets / beetroot, fresh, cooked to your liking and cut into matchsticks (roasting and boiling are both great) or grated raw and uncooked
2-3 Tablespoon fresh chopped dill, to taste
3 Tablespoons Greek yoghurt
1 tspn za’atar (opt.)
salt and pepper, to taste

one OR the other of:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbspn pomegranate molasses

Mix together the yoghurt, molasses, garlic, za’atar and seasoning – check that the taste is okay for you and add more molasses or seasoning as needed. Stir in the beetroot and half the dill. Fold together gently or mix well – depending on how pink you want your yoghurt to turn, or whether you want a more marbled pink/white look! Scatter over the extra dill and serve.

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adapted from lime and barley

 

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I highly recommend this salad, though I changed the recipe to recommend garlic OR pomegranate molasses and not both. It’s amazing how a good fresh beet has so much flavor on its own and barely needs any seasoning to taste so complex and interesting! This is my new favorite three-ingredient meal.

doubles

this is the quintessential trinidadian street food.

savory, sweet, hot, filling, and wonderful.

doubles consist of two (hence the name) flat pieces of fry-bread called BARA filled with a chickpea mixture.

it is also agreed throughout the recipes i checked out that the chickpeas and bara themselves are not the sweet, spicy, and sour flavor doubles are known for. this flavor comes from the condiments. see below for toppings!

it is the kind of street food that people in trinidad don’t really cook at home (source) but if you have a craving like i do, you can try to make it at home.
the doubles i got at trini-gul in a west indian neighborhood in brooklyn were one of the best foods i’ve ever had in my entire life.

i hope to make them at home and have them taste even half as good.

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bara

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 T baking powder
1 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 tsp sugar
Oil for frying

place warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl until foamy.

knead ingredients together until dough is smooth.

pour a bit of oil over the top, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and rest until dough doubles.

oil or wet your hands – dough is sticky. make two-inch balls. flatten to the size of your hand.

fry, at about forty seconds per side or until puffy and done.

adapted from trini gourmet, simply trini cooking, and chennette

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chickpeas

heat 1 T oil in a heavy bottomed pot or pan. add a chopped onion. when soft, add 1 t curry powder, 1 t turmeric, three cloves of garlic minced, 2 t ground cumin, 2 t salt, 1 t pepper, 5 leaves chadon beni (bandhania/culantro/long cilantro, or substitute cilantro,) and 1 t trinidadian pepper sauce. stir-fry until fragrant. add 2 c chickpeas and a cup of water. simmer until chickpeas are soft.

adapted from trini gourmet, simply trini cooking, amazing trinidad, and chennette.

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you MUST top with grated or preserved cucumbers or cucumber chutney, mango kuchela (trinidadian sweet&sour chutney,) and tamarind sauce to get that flavor!

smoked salmon spring rolls

super quick, super healthy! i was told to “cook” something that didn’t involve the oven. great for hot days. a nice variation of sweet veg spring rolls for fish eaters.

– spring roll wrappers
– smoked salmon or other smoked fish
– fresh crunchy veg, like thinly sliced cucumbers, thinly sliced carrot, lightly steamed asparagus, or fresh lettuce
– creamy things, like avocado, goat cheese, or cream cheese
– mung bean noodles or thin rice noodles
– fresh herbs, like fresh dill, tarragon, basil, mint, cilantro, or any combination

roll all thinly sliced ingredients into soaked and prepared spring roll wrappers.

serve with a dipping sauce like gyoza dipping sauce, or make a simple dipping sauce with any combination of mirin, soy sauce or hoisin, ginger, sesame oil, chili sauce, rice wine vinegar, and fish sauce. (any two of those together will make a great dipping sauce!)

melitzanosalata (greek eggplant dip)

this vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, and super-healthy dip from lemon and olives sounds very much like a tahini-free baba ghanouj. it doesn’t get much more healthy than this.

2 medium sized eggplants
⅛ cup chopped parsley (optional)
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup olive oil (or desired amount)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pierce eggplants with fork a few times and place in broiler until soft (and turns black) OR on BBQ for 10-15min turning every few minutes.
Remove and let cool.
Remove outer skin (black part) by hand.
Cut the eggplants into pieces.
Place in a large bowl and add parsley and garlic
Slowly add olive oil and lemon and crush with fork.
Mix in salt and pepper.
Serve with bread!

OR

simply roast eggplants til black, strip skin, and throw all ingredients into food processor or blender.

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from lemon and olives

cortido (latin american sauerkraut)

i know the basics on kefir, yogurt, and fermenting veggies, so i don’t tend to read beginner’s guides. i should, though – they are full of fun recipes i’ve never tried….
like this one!

it’s become one of my favorite ferments!

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cortido

1 large cabbage, cored and shredded
1 cup grated carrots
2 medium onions, quartered lengthwise and very finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon whey (optional, to kick-start fermentation)

pound (optional) and combine ingredients.

from cultures for health

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ferment in a fido jar, a mason jar with weights, a crock, a pickler, or anything non-reactive. you can even use a casserole dish with a plate on top!

for more information about how to ferment, check out:

– sandor katz’s Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

– sandor katz’s The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World,

– cultures for health’s lacto-fermentation e-book

– or my quick run-down

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! amazing! delicious! sweet, savory, full of flavor – BETTER THAN SAUERKRAUT! try this today!