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?
Jamie Stern says
Hello Elana, Per our discussions on facebook, I have added one of your recipes to my website to share this wonderful creation with my customers. I have mentioned in press releases and my social media. I have also added links to your site in my references. The recipe is located at: http://allergiesandme.com/_webapp_2692888/Fig_Tapenade_with_Walnut_Crackers. Thank you for participating and please let me know if you have other favorites you would like to share. Happy holidays. Jamie
Lyra says
Hey Elana!
This tapenade looks amazing! and the crackers too! I’ll have to try them out soooon.. Thanks for linking to my blog in your comment! <3
Kathryn Olney says
I made the crackers and fig tapenade this weekend. A neighbor popped in for a visit just as I was finishing. We both sampled the results and were delighted. Wonderful flavors. I will be taking this to a Halloween party Friday.
Dani says
I just discovered your website and immediately tried this recipe last night. That tapenade was fabulous and the crackers were great!
Elana says
Laura, not obnoxious at all. I love hearing about people’s changes and modifications to my recipes and yours sound delectable. Thanks for your comment :-)
Laura K says
I never know how obnoxious it is to rave about one of your recipes and then follow with the list of changes I made to it.
So apologies in advance…these crackers are terrific!! I left out the walnuts and just added more flour – plus a pinch or two of smoked paprika.
Delish!! ;)
elana says
Jess -this is a great recipe to try in your first venture into almond flour cooking because it is so easy. All that I can think of is that possibly your oil measurements were off. The way to remedy this would be to add more almond flour until the dough is workable. Hope this helps!
Jess says
I’m using Honeyville – this is my first cooking with almond flour and waited to get this in the mail to try a recipe.
PS How do you know if the almond flour is bad?
Thanks for your help!
elana says
Jess -What brand of almond flour are you using?
Jess says
I am having problems with this dough but don’t want to give up, so if anyone has advice, please share…
I followed the recipe exactly and the dough seems oily and is cracking all over and around the edges. I cannot roll it out at all. I tried putting it in the fridge for a while to set up but it’s still cracking. Too much flour, not enough flour…? Any thoughts? Thanks!