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Cauliflower Olive Tapenade – flavorful delicious savory spread, a great topping for RITZ Crackers.
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Delicious snack, made with cauliflower, kalamata olives, garlic, lemon juice, capers and fresh herbs from my new herb garden.
With the weather warming up and summer around the corner, I’m very excited about all the fresh fruits, veggies and of course flavorful fresh herbs.
I just love fresh herbs. Sadly, they don’t always last me throughout the long and cold winters here in Chicago.
Each spring, I’m excited to start a fresh herb garden for the summer and use these herbs in my delicious food creations and cocktails.
You know me, I’m a fan of simple recipes made with fresh veggies, that require just a few ingredients and minimal prep work.
This Cauliflower Olive Tapenade is the perfect example. I often buy or make olive tapenade and we like pairing it with crackers, for a quick snack. It also makes a great party appetizer.
Last time, when I made tapenade, I decided to try something different – incorporate one of my favorite vegetables in it – cauliflower.
I just used my basic tapenade recipe and added finely grated cauliflower, the result was delicious! Thicker texture, fun color and amazing flavor!
I like to use fresh thyme and parsley in my tapenade, so I went to my local Target  to get some fresh herbs. I got a plant which had both parsley and fresh thyme in it. How cool it that?
Also I love planting herbs each spring in honor of Earth Day, which was April 22. This is my little thing that makes me feel better!
I’ll use these fresh herbs in so many dishes this summer. This is how I started my fresh herb garden for 2017!
I also got some RITZ Crackers, to pair with this Cauliflower Olive Tapenade.
RITZ Ccrackers are just great for snacking and I love their buttery texture. Together with this tapenade, they make the perfect summer appetizer/snack.
I also got a nice wooden board from target, to serve these RITZ Cracker cauliflower tapenade snacks on, at my next summer party.
The fresh herb plant I got at Target inspired this simple summer recipe.
The fresh, garlicky and lemony taste of the tapenade and buttery flavor of RITZ Crackers made the perfect appetizer to wow your family and friends.
RITZ also has many creative ideas of cracker toppings to inspire you. These Caprese Ladybugs are so cute!
You can find more inspiration here.
These RITZ Crackers with cauliflower olive tapenade are so easy to put together and perfect for cracker and veggie lovers.
CAULIFLOWER OLIVE TAPENADE
Ingredients
- RITZ Crackers
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 cup Kalamata olives, , pitted
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1 garlic clove, , pressed
- 1/4 cup olive oil, (or more if needed)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, , chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste, (olives are salty)
Instructions
- Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse a few times, until broken down into couscous-sized granules. You can pulse 1-2 more times for finer texture. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add olives, capers, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, parsley, salt and black pepper. Pulse 8-9 times until combined and chopped small pieces. Pulse a few more times if you'd like to make olives into a paste.
- Add olive mixture to the cauliflower. Stir to combine, add more salt and olive oil of needed. I prefer to use less oil and have the cauliflower and olives finely grated, so they stick together, but don't make the crackers too oily.
- Serve with RITZ crackers.
- Optional: You can cook grated cauliflower in the oven at 400 F for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes to rehydrate it. Then cool completely, before combining with the rest of the ingredients. You can also use s raw in the recipe. I used it raw.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
I love fresh herbs too, especially when the warm weather hits! And I absolutely LOVE tapenade! It’s one of those spreads that I always flock to whenever I see it, because I don’t have it too often. Love this cauliflower herb version, Mira! So delicious on Ritz crackers!
What an amazing idea, Mira. You’re a genius!
I have a feeling this is going to become an internet sensation! 🙂
Ooo this sounds amazing Mira! Really creative!
Made this appetizer and it was gone in 5 minutes!