In general, I am very fond of what is known as Middle Eastern food, and this particular dish which can be vegetarian or meat is one of my favorites. If done properly, I can gobble down a whole dish of them myself and I always hope that any occasion we attend will have this – as it’s known in Israel as one of the “salatim”. Although not what one would normally call a salad, it is often served as a first course with other salads.

The trick with olives is to neither get rid of too much salt or too little. They can be too salty or too bitter but never fear there is a trick to it. If you use pitted olives (and I always do) then don’t over rinse them or they will not be salty enough. So, pour the brine off the opened can of pitted green olives and rinse once with cold water. Drain it and pour into a pot.

Next pour cold water over the olives and bring to the boil, just till it’s boiled, don’t cook them more than a minute. Drain again and now your olives will be just right, not too bitter and not too salty. Onward!

Next put all the ingredients together in a pot with the olives, the garlic, turmeric, cumin, tomato paste, olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice with water to just below the top of the olives in the pot.

As you see, I had some leftover cooked hamburger meat (an awesome way to repurpose leftovers) which I crumbled and added to the pot. It added fabulous flavor, but if you don’t have any, no worries! It’s wonderful vegetarian as well, and then you add the (vegetarian) chicken soup powder to amp up the flavor which you omit if using the ground beef.

As you see, you don’t cover the olives with the liquid since you want it to cook down whilst the olives basically marinate in this melange of flavors. Cook on low medium heat with cover of pot tilted for about 30 minutes and your whole house will smell like a restaurant and the family will poke their noses into the kitchen and ask what’s for dinner? Especially nice served over rice. Enjoy!

Moroccan Cooked Olives in Sauce

1 can pitted green olives
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 heaping teaspoon vegetarian chicken soup powder (only if NOT using meat)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1-2 crushed cloves garlic
Water
2 cups cooked crumbled chopped meat- leftover hamburger
or meatloaf works beautifully (optional)

Directions:

Drain the pitted olives of their brine and rinse in the can ONCE with cold water and drain. Put the olives in a pot.

Next, pour cold water to cover over olives in pot and bring to the boil for a minute, really not longer, and drain. This will take away both the excess salt and the bitterness of the olives which if you do not do this, will ruin the dish, they will be bitter.

To the pot add the tomato paste, turmeric, cumin, vegetarian soup powder (ONLY ONLY ONLY if you do not add meat- otherwise you are basically re-salting the olives) the oil, lemon juice and the crushed garlic. Stir the mixture together and add water to just below the top of the olives (see pic above) and bring to a low simmer and cover with top of pot tilted. At this point you may add your crumbled cooked meat if you wish and have any to hand. Stir once or twice during the approximate 30 minute cooking period, make sure to scrape from the bottom. Your olive sauce should cook down somewhat but make sure it doesn’t boil out since you will want that lovely sauce to dip bread in or spoon over rice.