Inspiration struck today. As did its friend creativity. The sun was bright for the third day in a row over here in Colorado and my faith in all things good returned. Whatever had a hold of me —seasonal affective disorder, Mercury in retrograde, who knows, who cares –it’s gone! I took a long slow walk and saw the last patches of melting snow, flowers popping up through mud and upon arriving home, I observed sap running down the maples in my front yard.
Spring, glorious spring. Even if it’s a taste, or just a tease, how it does brighten one’s outlook! In celebration of this beautiful weather I made a raw recipe that was unusual, yet delicious. I think this gluten-free fig and olive tapenade would make a fantastic hors d’oeuvre for a dinner or cocktail party and goes nicely with my Paleo Walnut Crackers.
Fig Tapenade
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried figs
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
Instructions
- Place figs in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds, until well chopped
- Add water and pulse to create a paste
- Add olives and pulse until incorporated
- Add olive oil, vinegar and thyme; pulse again for 30 seconds until tapenade is smooth
- Serve over Paleo Walnut Crackers
Equipment
Although I have several different paleo cracker recipes in my repertoire, I created my Paleo Walnut Crackers to accompany this Fig Tapenade. They complement each other nicely.
The lovely Anina, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Valentine’s cooking class I held in February, gave me the idea for this recipe. She told me about it during the class and then emailed me the epicurious.com version, which includes goat cheese, stewing the figs and a couple of other steps that I omitted in my quest to keep things simple. Especially with the warm weather approaching, I wanted to make this complex, sweet-savory dish raw and light.
I hope you like it. Please write up a comment if you have other suggestions as to good “vehicles” for delivering the tapenade –i.e., what would you serve it on?
elana says
PT -I’ll keep that in mind :-)
Pearl -Thanks for your super nice comment, I really appreciate it :-) I will have a gluten-free, dairy-free lemon bar recipe in my forthcoming book from Ten Speed Press, to be published in early fall 2009. Meanwhile, you might enjoy my almond butter blondies, same bar type concept, different flavors. Thanks!
Cindi says
I’ve made these both as lemon bars and key lime bars, and EVERYBODY loves them. The most common comment is, “I can’t tell difference between these and normal ones. Aren’t I supposed to?” :-D Yep, they’re wonderful!
Pearl Zimmerman, MD, MPH says
Wow! Thank you for being water on dry ground. Most allergy cookbooks or recipes for those of us with allergies are unpalatable-not your stuff. I wish every allergist or nutritionist who worked with allergies knew about you and told their patients about your site.
I think it would be a great addition if you could work your magic on a recipe for lemon bars. Thank you.
Bethany says
I made lemon bars using the crust and topping for Elana’s vegan raspberry streusel bars, and the lemon filling from “Lemon cake with lemon filling” at SCDrecipe.com Basically: 4 eggs, 3/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup lemon. Whisk together well. Heat, whisking constantly until thick. You will think you did something wrong, but just keep whisking, and eventually it will thicken just like magic. :)
PT says
Hi Elana,
Sorry if I have confused you. The reason for asking some savory recipes because I am on Candida Diet and need to limit any form of sugar and gluten. I tried your banana cake and it taste really good but my eczema got worsen afterward. I consider using stevia but I don’t know the amount to use in baking/cooking plus I dislike the after taste. For the thought of savory cake, it was because I tried a daikon root cake and taro root cake at a chinese restaurant, they are tasty but are using some kind of rice flour, so I wonder if you would be interested in developing some savory cake recipes?
Thanks again.
PT
elana says
PT,
This recipe and my walnut crackers recipe are what I consider savory cracker recipes. Maybe I’m misunderstanding you though; did you have something else in mind? Not exactly sure what a savory cake would be…
Elana
PT says
Hi Elana,
So glad to find your website. I never use almond flour and coconut flour; your recipes and the blog has been an inspiration to me.
I wonder if you would develop some recipes on savory crackers / biscuit and cake.
Thanks,
PT
elana says
Tracee,
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Elana
Tracee says
How funny you should mention Mercury in Retrograde!! Whenever things go screwy, I usually check to see if Mercury is in Retrograde, and it’s almost always the culprit, especially with the electronics in my life. I’ve always thought the nightly news should give warnings when it’s happening.
elana says
Diane-
If you take a look on the sidebar of my site and go to the “purchase” section, there is a link to almond flour for $6 per pound.
In terms of recommending a substitute for almond flour, I use almond flour almost exclusively as, like many with celiac disease, I have issues metabolizing high glycemic foods, which other gluten-free flours typically are.
If you are looking for recipes that do not use almond flour, I would recommend checking out bookofyum.com, glutenfreebay.com or glutenfreehippie.com.
Here are some detailed answers to your thoughtful questions.
Diane says
Hi Elana;
I notice you use almond flour almost exclusively. The only source I can find charges close to $16 for a one pound bag, and that makes me cringe! Can you recommend another flour that would work out nicely in your recipes?
The tapenade looks amazing. A very good Italian deli in my neighborhood makes a fig tapenade with toasted pecans instead of olives. It is yummy. It is a good option for a change!
Thanks for all you do.
Christine says
I get pretty inexpensive almond flour from Patel Brothers – on Long Island – they are an Indian grocery I believe. Anyway, the almond flour is about 1/2 what Whole Foods charges! Also, lots of nuts, dates, etc. for much less!
Cindi says
Ouch, Diane! I know it’s been a few years, but Honeyvillegrain.com offers it for much less than that. It’s $4.95 for shipping for any amount, and 5 pounds is $29.99 + shipping. It gets cheaper if you can do the 25 pound box. http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/blanchedalmondflour5lb.aspx?gclid=CMf_zMqhxqwCFRIr7Aod2kekOw
donna says
I love the recipe that you posted but due to a variety of reasons, I would use a combination of ground flax seeds, ground chia, hemps seeds and coconut flour for replacing some of the Almond flour. I love how my crackers turn out and will never purchase processed ones again. Including a dash of cayenne, black pepper, and 2 T. parsley and 2 T. Parmesan cheese makes them zing for a lot less cost than the 3 cups of Almond flour. Rolling them super thin (1/8″ thick) makes a huge batch.
Christiane says
This looks amazing. I will definitely have to try this soon!