ARTICHOKES, OLIVES AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES
Remember those jars of Sicilian, Alfonso and Kalamata olives you opened about 3 or 4 weeks ago? Or was it two months ago? Well, according to the FDA's Food Shelf-Life Recommendations, technically you’re supposed to keep a jar of olives thats been open for only 2 days and then toss them. What they don't tell you is that if olives are packed in brine and haven’t grown beards, they can be sliced into Pasta Puttanesca, Chicken Provençale, couscous or salads.
Touted as an aphrodisiac and age-defier (it contains a nice dose of Vitamin E), fancy jarred olives are hardly an investment you want to squander. Hard boiled eggs can be topped off with Olive Tapenade, or you can drop a dollop on top of any pale-complexioned soup - preferably one that's chilled, such as white gazpacho or vichysoisse. Thin with a little oil and mayonnaise and you have a tossing sauce for cold pasta or a dip for raw veggies.
Nearly expired marinated artichokes or sun-dried tomatoes can be pureéd up into something spreadable and dippable: savory pestos. The basic formula is a clove of garlic and a little olive oil to the drained artichokes or dried tomatoes blended in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. In the final blend cycle, toss in 1/4 th the quantity of toasted pine nuts or walnuts, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper and purée until you're happy with the consistency. For a thinner spread, increase the amount of olive oil.
These days, we're told a Mediterranean diet is a prescription for a long and healthy life. So do your part. Survey the fridge for anything that lives in a jar or a tube outside the
