Top Tapenade

There is no Trader Joe's in Savannah so whenever my Mommy goes to Atlanta, she brings a cooler and stocks up.  When I was last home over Thanksgiving, I got to sample some of her latest finds.  Even though I have a Trader Joe's here and can shop regularly, she manages to find things on the shelves that I never seem to see.  Such was the case with the green olive tapenade.  I usually see tapenade made with black olives and ground into a paste.  This salty tapenade is chunkier and although part of the same family, the green olives have their own flavor.  My Mom served it with an antipasti platter and I thought it was such a great addition that I made a mental note to find it and put my own spin on it.

So on my last Trader Joe's run back in the city, I searched out this tapenade, eager to incorporate it into some new recipes.  Last week, when making a roast beef, ham, and cheese wrap for lunch, I added the tapenade to mayonaise as an extra condiment.  It was a nice little twist on a muffaletta.  But I'd only just begun...

Saturday lunches are all about throwing together ingredients you have lying around the house.  Lucky for me, one of those ingredients was the tapenade.  Today, I made stuffed chicken with cream cheese, the tapenade, and panko bread crumbs.  The tapenade was like an instant flavor boost to the chicken.  I served it with broccoli and white bean dip leftover from Thursday's supper for a well rounded meal.  I can't wait to see what other uses I come up with for that salty spread!