Olives, aren’t they delicious? Olives from Spain are what’s mostly consumed here in the US, and really, there’s no other comparison. Spanish olives are so versatile and can be used in so many ways. I’m sharing two simple recipes; breakfast quiche and salad dressing.
BLACK OLIVES VS GREEN OLIVES
There are really only a couple of main differences between black and green olives. Green olives are some-ripe and harvested at their optimum ripening period, while black olives are harvested before they ripe. Green olives have a smokey, distinct flavor and black olives, once treated, are mild in flavor. Both are grown in beautiful soil and sunny, gorgeous weather in Spain. And of course, they are hand-picked! I didn’t know how healthy they were but I read this from the website:
Olives from Spain are a naturally sugar-free food and contain monounsaturated fats, which can improve cholesterol levels in the blood and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. One serving of Olives from Spain (7 large olives) provides 35 calories and 2.5 grams of monounsaturated, healthy fat, making it a great substitute for foods high in saturated fat.
This month, Olives from Spain is off to Miami for the country’s premiere food festival. If you are lucky enough to attend (I wish I was!!) the renowned South Beach Wine and Food Festival, be sure to stop by the Olives from Spain station to sample some tasty bites. The event is expecting approximately 18,000 attendees. Annie Sibonney will be there. She is an expert on Spanish regional and haute cuisine, Cooking Channel on-air host and founder of Relish Culinary Tours. AMAZING experience y’all!
Most of our meals consist of ingredients that we have on hand so we usually just throw food together for last minute ideas. I’ll start with the breakfast quiche. We’re on rations right now so I used what I had, which was a little ham, eggs, cheese, hash browns, and green olives stuff with pimento. It’s that simple and while everything else is sorta bland, the green olives really pumped up the flavor of the quiche.
- 3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup half-and-half
- ¾ cup diced cooked ham
- ½ cup green olives with pimentos (Olives from Spain)
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar
- Preheat oven to 350'.
- Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl.
- Pour the mixture in a 9inch plate
- Bake at 30-40 minutes until quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.
The salad dressing is so simple and I love that you can change the flavor based on your mood that day. Since I’m highlighting olives, I wanted to share my simple salad dressing recipe using black olives. My Truett loves salad, which is a little unusual for most 8 year olds that I know. I’m always making sure to test his palette with new foods and olives have always been something he loves. Using this instead of the typical dressing, also makes for a healthier option since we do try and cut calories on most meals here lately.
Black olives are great by themselves or appetizer so I know it would go perfect in a salad dressing. It adds that extra umph and texture to the dressing, and to your salad!
- ½ cup Extra Birgin Olive Oil
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp of black pepper (or more if desired)
- ½ cup chopped black olives
- Mix all ingredients into a container. I used a mason jar. Secure lid.
- Shake until olive oil and lemon juice blend into one, after about 1 minute of shaking.
- Pour over salad or fresh spinach!
If y’all want to be 100% sure that you’re getting the highest quality olives, look for the Olives from Spain logo (pictured in the collage above), and you’ll know that you are! What is your favorite food/recipe that features olives? I’d love to know! And do you prefer green or black olives?
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Olives from Spain via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Olives from Spain or Momtrends.
That salad is calling to me. It looks great!