Green Apple Slices with Tapenade

This recipe and photography were provided courtesy of local cookbook author and chef, Carla Snyder. Learn more about Carla and discover her recipes at Ravenouskitchen.com. 

The tartness of the apple and salty herbal notes of the tapenade is surprisingly refreshing. The green, black and white colors also look great on a decorative serving tray. Any leftover tapenade will keep for weeks in the refrigerator, but don’t worry; it will be gobbled up long before that.

It’s that easy: It’s easy to remove the pits from the olives. Simply lay the flat side of your knife on the olive and press. The olive opens up and out pops the pit. To easily remove the zest from citrus, use a microplane, available at most cookware stores.

Green Apple Slices with Tapenade

Start-to-Finish: 30 minutes
Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon (yellow part only)
• Zest of 1 orange (orange part only)
• Juice of 1 lemon, divided
• 1-1/2 cups Kalamata olives, pitted
• 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 1/4 cup capers (preferably those packed in salt), rinsed
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Granny Smith apples, halved cored and each cut into 16 slices
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• Lemon wedges and parsley leaves, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. On a large cutting board, mince the garlic, chop the parsley and zest the lemon and orange.
2. Juice half of the lemon into the bowl of a food processor and add the garlic, parsley, zests, olives, tomatoes, capers, thyme, a few grinds of pepper and olive oil. Pulse a few times to incorporate and chop to a desired texture (I like it chunky.) Keep refrigerated if making ahead of time. Bring to room temperature before serving.
3. Just before serving, toss the apples with the juice from the other lemon half to keep them from browning. Spread a small mound of tapenade onto each of the sliced apples and arrange them decoratively on a platter. Garnish with lemon wedges and bunches of parsley.

Variation: To change it up, you can also add a platter of thinly-sliced carrot, celery, fennel or cucumber for dipping into the bowl of the tapenade.

Make-ahead: Tapenade can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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