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Sun dried tomato tapenade


There's something really romantic about sharing a plate of food with someone you love. Using your hands to lay chunks of buttery brie across thin crackers, spooning salty tapenade onto slices of crusty baguette, and popping grape tomatoes into your mouth to feel them burst with ripe flavour. It's enough to make you forget the kids are in the room! 

Erm, what was I saying? Oh ya, sharing a plate of food is romantic. And that's just what Mr. Feedbag and I did while spending the weekend at a private cottage on Pender Island to celebrate his birthday. Some homemade tapenade from a vendor at the Pender Island Farmers' Market was part of our shared plate, and it was so lovely I decided to make some at home in my own kitchen using sun dried tomatoes, fresh herbs from our garden, and both black and green olives.


Here's how I made it:

1 clove garlic
3 sun dried tomatoes
5 fresh basil leaves
5 fresh oregano leaves
1 cup pitted black olives
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Using my mini food processor, I pulsed the garlic clove and sun dried tomatoes until finely chopped (these take a little more time, so I started them first). The remainder of the ingredients were then added to the food processor and pulsed just until the tapenade reached the consistency I was aiming for - minced, not a paste. And that's all there is to it!

This would be lovely on some crispy crackers, but I decided to munch on this with slices of whole grain baguette. Mr. Feedbag was happy to see it when he got home from work - a little reminder of our weekend away. 


Tapenade is not at all complicated and that is how romance is best served, if you ask me. Simple and shared.

Do you like to make tapenade? What's your idea of a romantic meal? What foods do you like to share with your sweetie? Leave a comment and don't spare any details!