QUICK TREATMENTS: Nearly Expired Party Food
Expiring pickles for garnishing chef salads
"I’ll chop them up and use them in a Chef Salad, Cobb Salad or Potato Salad or for sandwich filling, like Tuna Salad or Chicken Salad." (Brook Hurst Stephens of Learn To Preserve, Washington State)
Pickle those veggie party trays
"You know how people get those party trays of cut up raw vegetables – like broccoli florets, cauliflower? They’ll ask me, Do you want to take some home? I don’t want to think about how many people have touched each piece -- just kidding -- but I love to take them home and pickle the vegetables. Giardiniera is exactly what it looks like. I use coriander seeds, mustard seeds – pretty much the same blend that I use in some of my chutneys. Probably the major difference between my Pickled Cauliflower and some traditional giardiniera blends is that many include oil; mine does not.
Here’s my article about Pickled Cauliflower which includes a link to a printable recipe. You can definitely add other vegetables, like broccoli and carrots.” (Brook Hurst Stephens of Learn To Preserve, Washington State)
Olive salad from surplus Kalamata olives
"My husband has a Costco addiction. You know those large 70 oz. jars of Kalamata olives they sell at Costco? Well, he brought one home and I said to myself, What am I going to do with all the olives he’s not going to eat? So I turned most of them into a Kalamata Olive Salad adapted from a recipe at NOLA Cuisine. Instead of making this salad from both Kalamata and green olives, I used just the Kalamata olives from Costco. A big batch of this olive salad is perfect for making traditional Muffuletta sandwiches, especially when you're expecting a crowd.
Kalamata Olive Salad Recipe
2 cups Kalamata olives, pitted
1 – 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup giardiniera*
1 Tbsp. capers
3 each fresh garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/8 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano or 2 tsp. dried
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp. green onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1 – 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup giardiniera*
1 Tbsp. capers
3 each fresh garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/8 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano or 2 tsp. dried
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp. green onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
* mixture of pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery and pepperoncini, available in the Italian section of most supermarkets
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Crush each olive on a cutting board with your hand.
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Combine all ingredients. Cover with olive oil.
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Put into a bowl or jar, seal and let flavors marry for about one week.
