The idea for this was introduced to me from another good friend with a Costco membership. At one point, Costco had these wonderful olives that were marinated with lemons and rosemary – that’s about all I can remember. I searched everywhere online to find them so I could try to recreate, but it appears they do not have them any longer. No worries – my husband and I actually enjoyed these much more.
First things first, your olives. I would recommend trying to find ones that are already pitted just to save time. You can choose any varieties you like. For this one I used, whole, plain Kalamata and Castelvetrano (un-brined and un-seasoned), some Picual pieces as well as Spanish Manzanilla. It’s good to get a variety of flavors as well as colors. I placed them all in a bowl draining most of the juices. I squeezed 1/2 a fresh lemon into the bowl and mixed. My lemons are very juicy, so you might want a whole lemon.
I added about 1.5 oz of sun dried tomatoes. I used the bag of dried, julienne-cut. Then, I dug through my stash of garden herbs I dried from last year and added a large pinch of both thyme and lemon thyme. Throw in a little less than than a tbsp of minced garlic and just a couple pieces of artichoke heart (chopped up).
Chop up a few pieces of fresh rosemary and stir in with the other ingredients. Slice a lemon into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Place your lemon pieces, olives and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary into a canning jar and top with olive oil. Shake well. I would let it marinate a couple of days before using. You can put in the fridge if you want, but if you are using a good quality olive oil, chances are it will solidify. I left mine on the counter for the week and turned it over a couple of times to mix it up. I love to eat these with a fork or I also love to make bruschetta with this.
Lemon and Rosemary marinated Olives
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Kalamata olives whole, pitted
- 3/4 cup Castelvetrano olives whole, pitted
- 1/2 cup Picual olives pieces
- 1/2 cup Spanish Manzanilla olives whole, pitted
- 1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes dry, julienne cut
- 1 tsp Thyme dried
- 1 tsp Lemon Thyme dried
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- 2 pieces Artichoke hearts diced
- 2-3 sprigs Rosemary fresh
- 1 1/2 Lemon large
- 1 1/2 cup Olive Oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Place all olives, draining most of the liquid into a bowl.
- Squeeze 1/2 large lemon over olives and stir.
- Add sun dried tomatoes, thyme, lemon thyme, garlic and artichoke hearts and stir together.
- Chop a small portion of your fresh rosemary and stir in to the mixture.
- Slice your lemon into 1/8 inch thick rounds.
- Place your lemon rounds, rosemary sprigs and olives into a canning jar and top with olive oil. Shake to mix.
Mushrooms and Butternut Squash “Zoodles”
Vegetables have ALWAYS been my favorite. Cauliflower first. Extremely close seconds are pasta and mushrooms. When I was a kid in 1/2 day kindergarten, my mom had an in-home daycare in our house and therefore was always home with lunch ready when I got off the bus. One of my favorite lunches was her creamed cauliflower. I know, not healthy at all, but oh so good. I always felt extra special when she made me that meal. These days it is a very rare occasion that I eat cauliflower or any veggie prepared that way, but veggies are still my favorite. And once I discovered my body’s dislike to gluten they have become my favorite substitute for pasta as well.
Today, I needed something that would be quick to make and also wanted healthy. I dug through my refrigerator and started pulling out what I had on hand. Luckily I had a few shortcuts to help with the time and mess – I’ll share those here.
My first shortcut today – already “zoodled” noodles. I love the Cece’s Veggie Co options. They save so much time and mess and they are Organic – even better! Don’t get me wrong – once my garden is going with fresh veggies for zoodling and ricing again I will zoodle my own as well. I also had a package of baby bella mushrooms on hand and some already minced garlic. Sitting on my counter were some of the fresh lemons from our tree outback – we still have an abundance.
First things first, I always press any extra moisture out of my zoodles. I love butternut squash because they are denser and typically don’t hold the moisture like zucchini noodles do, but I still want to make sure I get any excess out. So, once I had them pressed in between some paper towels, I melted a little ghee butter in a pan on the stove, added about a tablespoon of minced garlic and sauteed for a couple minutes before adding in my mushrooms. I decided a little extra ghee would be needed as both the mushrooms and squash will really soak it up – so about 2-3 tablespoons.
Then, I squeezed in 1/2 of a fresh lemon (mine are very juicy), and stirred around until the mushrooms were about 1/2 cooked. I then added a couple tablespoons of parsley (I used dried this time – faster!).
I then added in my “noodles.” I like to pull them apart and add a little at a time so they aren’t all stuck together. I then sauteed the noodles for about 5 more minutes. I topped my bowl off with a tiny bit of shredded Parmesan cheese and there you have it – lunch!
Mushrooms and Butternut Squash “Zoodles”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Ghee Butter
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- 1 pckg Baby Bella Mushrooms small
- 2 tbsp Parsley dried
- 1/2 lemon squeezed
- 1 pckg Cece’s butternut squash “noodles”
- 1 pinch shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Melt butter in pan and add minced garlic. Saute for a few minutes.
- Add mushrooms and saute until about 1/2 cooked or more. Sprinkle on parsley and squeeze in lemon juice and stir.
- Add the butternut squash and saute for approx 5-7 minutes.
- Top your bowl with a pinch of shredded parmesan cheese.