Italian Marinated Olives are an easy snack that just takes a little planning a couple of days before you want to serve them. There are always some of these lurking in the fridge at home. It’s simply olives in oil and vinegar with some aromatics. Mix up a big batch to keep on hand. Use a slotted spoon to retrieve them and leave the sauce behind. Whenever the olives are running low, just open and drain a can of olives and dump them in. Occasionally, you can put in some new herbs or maybe take it in a new direction with some pepper flakes or some new spices, like cardamom or maybe some cumin.
2 jars green olives, water-packed
1 can black olives, water-packed
4 Stalks celery, chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 c olive oil
1 c vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
Drain and rinse the olives. I try to find different kinds/colors of olives. Just about anything works. Just make sure what you buy is “water-packed”, not “oil-packed”. Chop up the celery and the onion. Think about the sizes of the stuff and how they will look when you serve this “salad” to your guests…
Zest the lemon and add only the bright yellow parts to the mix. The white part is bitter and nasty. I use a citrus zester, but you could use a peeler and then cut some thin strips just as well.
Mix up the rest of the ingredients and toss. Leave this to marinate for a couple of days. I leave it out on the counter, but some people will tell you that the onions and garlic do bad things at room temperature. When you put it in the fridge, the oil congeals so make sure you let the Italian Marinated Olives come to room temperature before you serve.
