small bites: zesty olive tapenade

as i recently posted about, my friend kim and i had a delicious feast of italian tapenades and bruschetta for dinner one night.  kim used her new ninja to make this olive tapenade.  i love my magic bullet, but the ninja looked like it could hold a little bit more - i might have to consider getting one.  this tapenade was sooo good - it tasted a little zingy at first, but it was totally balanced out by the flat breads and crackers.

• 3/4 cup black olives
• 1/2 cup green olives (w/ pimentos)
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 fresh lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 this is one of those simple throw together recipes - just toss everything in a ninja or food processor, and pulse several times.  you don't want a puree, but rather a finely minced tapenade.  it makes a good cup and  half - quite a bit of tapendade.  it's definitely an easy go to recipe, especially if you keep olives on hand.  thanks for the recipe, kim!

injured girl food

this isn't my typical recipe post, but it's kinda food related so i decided to post it anyways. the car accident left me unable to cook, and on temporary restrictive diet. both the previous two recipes were actually made back in december (it just took me a while to get them posted). my life started to get a little gloomy when i spent two weeks relegated to the couch sleeping upright, spent tons of money on hospital and mechanic bills, and watched more man v. food than i could possibly handle. that's when best friends show up and save the day! i've known kim for 15+ years, and that doll girl came over and surprised me with a care package to break up all the doom and gloom!

she brought me green tea soy dream - a flavour i had never tried. and yum, i am so a fan! she also brought me two awesome bottles of bolthouse farms smoothies - again, a first for me. the vanilla chai is so awesome and sorta reminds me a little of silk nog. she left me an adorable card as well - who wouldn't be cheered up by that pup? also included were two fiction novels (she's trying to crack my staunch non-fiction stance), and some house dvds...
she's been great friend over the years. she taught me how to roll sushi the first time, and can do an awesome inside out roll. anyways, i just wanted to say thank you, kim! (we are the two with bright pink paper crowns on after a big sushi party).

ps - she often accompanies me on my restaurant review dinners, but i just realized there are no pics of her on there. but that will change. :)