Cannabis Infused Olive Tapenade Triumph

Margaret 00:00:04 Welcome to episode 265. Today we are doing an almond olive tapenade. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles where I help you take control of your hi life. I'm your host and Certified Ganjier Marge and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here. And thank you for joining me today. Greetings, friends, and welcome back to an episode of Bite Me. If you're just tuning in for the first time, I'm glad you're here, or doing a nice savory recipe to switch things up a little bit, but if you are so inclined, let me know how you discovered the show. I would love to hear it. You can send me a fan mail text message right within your own podcast platform, wherever you're listening, unless you're listening on my website, in which case you're right there. Leave a comment or something. But if you've been around listening for a while, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to you as well. Because if it wasn't for those folks who come back week after week, I wouldn't be sitting here in my office, gazing out at the front lawn with the large trees and sometimes the turkeys running around and an occasional bat in the house.

Margaret 00:01:12 Yes, I had a bat in my house recently. It was as horrifying as it sounds. And did I make my 93 year old father catch the bat and release it while I hid behind a throw pillow? I might have, and I was going to say I have no shame in that, but I actually have a lot of shame in that. And lucky for me, my dad is spry enough to do such things, all the while laughing at me as he did them. So it was about half an hour of this bat flying around the house and me screaming and him laughing, and the poor thing probably shitting itself. Whatever however that happened works with bats, I don't know, but we did get it out. Well, I shouldn't say we. He got it out of the house safely. I did provide support when needed, such as when he requested an oven so that he could pick up the bat. He had a towel in his hand as well. Or a towel, but pick up the bat without getting bitten.

Margaret 00:02:05 Of course, because we don't want that. But now the bat is flying free out in the wilderness, eating bugs and doing whatever bats should be doing, which is not flying around in my house. So that was a little bit of an excitement. But anyway, we're not here to talk about bats. We're here to talk about edibles and cannabis and all those things. And I'm glad you're here for the ride. And today we're doing an almond olive tapenade. And we'll get into that in a few minutes. But before we do, I just wanted to read you a review that I got recently, and it really got me in the fields. It really meant a lot. And I love getting reviews like this. So if you're ever feeling like you want to leave a review, please do, I. I have this review aggregator service that I use because essentially if I didn't have this service, I would have to go into Apple and Spotify and like all the the 15 different podcast platforms out there available and find the reviews manually, and I just don't even think about it most of the time.

Margaret 00:03:04 And I got this message in my inbox saying, hey, you got a new review, and I love getting those. Those are like the best kinds of emails to get. It's like when you get like a beautiful thank you card in the mail, because most of the time in your mail, email or snail mail, you're expecting bill statements and junk mail and and things you don't really want. So when something like this comes through, you're like, oh, like it's a nice bright spot in your day. Skelton oh four from the US of A. They say I clean houses for a living and binge many different podcasts while working. This one has become a new favorite. Margaret is an excellent host and the topic is a great escape from the heavier topics I've often gravitated to. I can listen to Margaret, be inspired, learn, and feel good before having an edible. I will, but this podcast is a treat all by itself. Thanks, Margaret. Well, thank you for that review because that was a treat for me.

Margaret 00:03:58 And I thought you wrapped it up really beautifully. Because I'll be having an edible with you this evening, if that's what you're going to be doing. Because I edibles probably most nights, not every night, but many nights tend to enjoy them more later in the day, although I will do lighter doses micro doses CBD throughout the day as well. Depending it depends on it all depends. It always depends, doesn't it? Context is everything. So thank you for showing that review and if you feel so inclined to leave one for yourself, it really does help more people find the show. Another thing I wanted to mention is that someone shared with me a humorous story about a friend of theirs that had consumed a larger than normal dose of edibles. because I if I understood it correctly, they discovered these edibles, and though they were labeled, I think they may have been out of the package. I can't quite remember, but this person ate more than what was usually there, more than their usual typical dose.

Margaret 00:05:03 And they got very, very, very high. And so this is just a reminder that, it's really important to label your edibles, but when appropriate and when possible, because I know this doesn't always work. But if you can, if you can make a cookie shaped in a pot leaf or use molds that have like a pop motif in them some way, or stamp a cannabis leaf into the top of of whatever you're making so that there's another way to indicate possibly that your treats or whatever you're making is infused beyond just the label that you've put on the container or, or whatever, then do so, because that's just another way to indicate to people that your, this, this food that they could be eating is infused. And maybe we'll give them pause enough to ask some questions before they ingest it. Because we all know once you're on that ride, you're on it until you get off. And that's going to be several hours, unlike when you vaporizer or combust cannabis. This ride is going to last quite a bit longer.

Margaret 00:06:16 And so we all want the people who are enjoying our edibles that we're making to have a good time. Naturally, it makes sense because oftentimes when we're gifting them, we are gifting them with love because we want to share something special. And I think, personally, handmade homemade gifts show a lot of thought behind them. And not that a store bought gift can't because obviously you had to go to the store. You had to like leave your house for one, get in a car battle, a parking lot which is often chaotic, deal with the general public and try and find something that is thoughtful. There is no I don't want to diminish that, because finding a thoughtful gift for somebody to store is beautiful as well, because it just shows that you were thinking about them and you made the time to go out and spend money on them for something that you think that they would appreciate. But when you're gifting something that you made with your own two hands and with love, I feel like that gift, whether it's infused with just love or love, love and cannabis, depending on what it is that you're making, then that's super thoughtful too.

Margaret 00:07:20 So if there's a way that you can indicate that it is infused, if it is indeed infused with cannabis, then I think that's just another step of protection to make sure that somebody doesn't consume something inadvertently. Do you have any other suggestions for that? Because if you do, I would love to hear them. And that's something I could share on the show as well with other people, because we always think in terms of sweets, it's a lot easier to do a cookie in a in a pot leaf shape, or to use a mold for a candy or a gummy that has some kind of cannabis motif. It's a lot harder to do that with, say, an almond olive tapenade because naturally it's oh, of course, you probably having to take it right out of a well labeled jar, I would hope, but. So maybe it doesn't apply the same way. But again, if you have any ideas or suggestions or tricks that you've used, let me know and I would love to share them. So let's get into today's recipe.

Margaret 00:08:20 So I have actually, I actually picked out this recipe quite a while ago to do because I do like to sort of plan three months out when I'm organized, and I usually do stick to that plan for the most part, although often it can change in fluctuate depending on who I end up having on as a guest, or perhaps my mood or seasons or whatever. But I had this recipe picked out for a while because I personally love olives. And if you are somebody who also loves olives, you're going to really like this recipe because it has olives, because it's healthy, because you can infuse it, and you because also it's like really easy to make. So it checks a lot of those boxes And if you don't like olives, you may want to skip this one. And might I suggest you check out the episode that I did last week with Jackie MacAskill. If you haven't heard that one yet, because she was phenomenal. I loved talking with Jackie. She was a a wine and alcohol industry expert who had really seen some success in that industry and then discovered the power of edibles and launched her own cannabis beverage with a partner she has.

Margaret 00:09:28 And that was a great conversation. And she's a fellow Canadian as well. So unfortunately, her beverages aren't available in the US. But if you're Canadian, check them out because they are delicious and she's doing things right. And I know you folks in the US, in some states have a lot of options when it comes to great drinks too, but I really enjoyed her perspective. So even if you want to hear a perspective on on going from the alcohol industry to the cannabis industry and all the things that that entails, then you'll want to listen to that conversation. So just a little advertisement for last week's episode, if you haven't heard it yet because you don't like elves. And if you do love all those but also haven't heard last week's episode, do go back and listen to it because I think you would enjoy it. There's a few reasons. Like I said, I picked out those. This recipe, one which I already mentioned. But another reason that I chose this recipe now is because I'm doing a whole 30 diet.

Margaret 00:10:17 And if you're unfamiliar with that, I'll link to it in the show notes. I've done them before. Basically, it's an elimination diet where you eliminate anything that tastes good. And I'm actually kidding, but almost not. You eliminate all the things that typically trigger issues in people, and you eliminate them for 30 days. And the and then you reintroduce some slowly. And the rationale is that it often takes two weeks for a lot of the foods that we're eating to sort of clear the system. And then you have that other two weeks to really notice how you feel without them, and then you start to reintroduce them to see if you notice a big difference. And for me, sometimes I deal with fatigue and like, you know, I remind myself, Margaret, you are a woman in your 40s. And maybe that's just natural aging, but I say natural aging. I like to try and find other solutions because you're right, it could very well be natural aging. And that is just a sad reminder that I am going to die someday.

Margaret 00:11:14 As if I need any more reminders. I've got wrinkles enough. But also I deal with a lot of sinus issues. I'm allergic to everything, people. I'm allergic to dogs and cats, which really stinks because my kids have been acquiring very cute pets that I want to pet, and I do anyway, but sometimes to my detriment. Cats I feel like I'm particularly allergic to. I'm allergic to horses and hay, and I always knew that my parents had horses when I was a teenager, and my one of my daughters rode for a little while, and I couldn't even be in the barn when they were tacking up the horses, because the combination of all before you tack up a horse, one of the things you do is you groom the horse, and that would just put a whole bunch of horse hair into the air and then combined with all the smells in the hay and the barn like it was, I just couldn't be in there. I would my throat would be closing up, I'd be itching, my eye would be watering, I'd be wheezing.

Margaret 00:12:07 It was pretty awful. I'm allergic to all kinds of pollen. Lucky me, because that seems to be growing in quantity. I've been popping allergy pills every day this summer, and of course, I look out the back window of the property that I'm at and I can just see a lovely huge row of well developed goldenrod. Am I allergic to that too? Yes, I am quite allergic. I'm allergic to several other grasses as well, so dust I'm allergic to. And I've been dealing with sinus problems for most of my life. And now that I've been living with my dad for a little while, I see also where I got it from because in his A at his advanced age, he is often still dealing with a lot of sinus issues as well. And somebody mentioned to me once recently that they cut out dairy and notice a big difference in their allergies. And I was just like, you know, maybe this is something I need to revisit and take it more seriously. I've done the whole 30 before to eliminate certain foods from my diet, probably for other purposes, but this is what I'm doing it for, to see if I feel better and have more energy, and also to see if it makes a difference with my sinus issues.

Margaret 00:13:16 And like I, I blow my nose like it feels like 50 times a day. It's kind of crazy. See if that makes a difference with the allergies as well, because sometimes cutting out a simple food group might be the solution. And at the end of the day, that's a pretty easy solution. Now, what do you cut out in the whole 30? you cut out alcohol, so I'll be alcohol free this month as well. sugar of all kinds. Even healthy sweeteners like stevia or honey, anything with added sugar in it is a no go soy. I think it was nitrates, all grains and legumes. And don't forget that peanuts are a legume dairy. That's obvious. I'm trying to remember if there's, I think I, I think that's everything. And then you're like, well, what do you eat? Well, a lot of eggs. I'm an omnivore. So I can eat meat. Of course, all the herbs and spices I desire vegetables and fruit and honestly, meat and vegetables like you can.

Margaret 00:14:16 And that, of course, includes the lauded potatoes. So I will be just fine if I can eat potatoes, because that's where I can get a lot of my carbs. And a lot of vegetables do have a lot of carbs. Now that we're in September, we're getting into squash season, and I love a good squash and they are actually pretty sweet in themselves. Let's not forget the sweet potato. Let's not forget the sweet potato. I also have to say that the person who said that they cut out a food group and it helped with their their allergies that they were referring to someone who cut out dairy. So I really hope dairy isn't the culprit. But maybe it is. And I do know my dad eats and a lot of dairy drinks, a lot of milk. I don't drink milk but I'm hoping I won't find that, but I'm also looking for solutions. So anyway, I've gone on and on. Enough about that. I'll link to it in the show notes, because it is interesting as an experiment to see if it can help you overcome some health challenges that you might be dealing with.

Margaret 00:15:12 Because, let's face it, we eat food every single day, and that can have a profound effect on our body. And each one of us has a very unique biology. So I'm just doing some experimentation. It's kind of fun. And I've been eating really good too, so no complaints. This almond olive tapenade happens to be Whole30 compliant. Yay! And I got the recipe from a book called Gourmet Nutrition. And I actually, for a short time in my life, used to be a precision nutrition coach nutrition coach, and I didn't really do it for that long, but I have maintained my certifications. So because I feel like it's valuable knowledge to have, I still have a real personal interest in nutrition. I mean, when you're cooking all the time because you need to live and you're doing a show like this where you're infusing all kinds of food. As much as I love the sweets, I'm going to go off the sweets for a bit. The sweet tooth was getting a little out of control, but I do tend to eat a lot of sweet edibles, and sometimes I've had many people request that I do something or focus on more savory recipes as well.

Margaret 00:16:15 So this is for you folks too. But Margaret, what is it? Tapenade. And the answer to that is I don't really know, but one of these suggest you compare it nicely with chicken, and I haven't actually tried that yet. There is a variation and option at the end, which I'll be sure to include in the recipe when I put it up on the website, but to use it as a salad dressing, whisk one part tapenade with one part olive oil and one part lemon juice, and then you have an almond olive dressing, which would make it more saucy. And then it says you can also use it as a filling for stuffed chicken breast or on top of a roast chicken breast. And that also sounds delicious. I have to admit, I ate mine mostly with eggs. I find eggs are a perfect a perfect backdrop for a lot of sauces and dips and tapenade and what have you. And there are really good with eggs, so I eat them a lot with that. And what are you going to need? You're going to need kalamata olives pitted whole or sliced.

Margaret 00:17:21 Doesn't really matter. I bought mine pitted. If you do give them a bit of a squeeze, maybe before you put them in the blender, because even a lot of the times, even though they are pitted, you have to watch for like shards of pits that have remained even after the pitting process. And I did find one when I was eating, enjoying some of this tapenade. You're going to use almonds, crushed shallots, shallots, I guess I always say shallots, but I think it's shallots. fresh garlic, capers, Dijon mustard, fresh parsley, pepper and olive oil. And if you're wondering where you infuse it, the olive oil. If you guessed olive oil, ding ding ding. You were correct. You're going to use infused olive oil. And because this particular recipe uses two tablespoons, it's the perfect recipe to infuse with a. You could use a relatively potent olive oil and, and, get pretty lit off of this stuff. Or you could do more of a microdose or use CBD.

Margaret 00:18:18 You know how I am. You work with what you've got, what your tolerance is, who's going to be enjoying it. All those factors. Now, I didn't have crushed almonds because I wasn't going to go out and buy crushed almonds when I had a whole Costco sized bag of almonds sitting in a cupboard. So basically you take all those ingredients I just listed and you put them in a blender, you blend done. That's how easy this is and how fast, which is why I loved it. I'm going to be making it again because I did buy a jar of organic kalamata pitted olive oils or olives, and I only needed about half the jar. So I have enough to make it again and I will be, because what else am I going to eat this month, right? And because I didn't have crushed almonds, I just threw those into the blender first and turned it on. And then I added everything else after. So no need to, like, make it complicated. Just throw it into the blender first and there you go.

Margaret 00:19:06 You've got crushed olives or crushed almonds. I didn't have shallots. I just used a small summer onion, white onion that I got, like it's like a small summer onion I got from the food market or food market from the farmers market. And it did have a pretty at first almost, I wouldn't say overwhelming onion taste, but it was relatively strong. It did tone down a little bit. So depending on the size of the onion, you might want to cut it in half and make it a little bit smaller. Pretty small. A lot of the times are pretty small, so maybe I just had too much but didn't really bother me. I didn't have actually, I shouldn't say I did have capers, but I pulled them out of the fridge and I have to admit, I don't remember buying them, so I couldn't remember if they were capers or brought with me when I moved in, if I bought them afterwards, or if they belonged to my dad. Now, the one clue that I had that maybe I had purchased them was that they were organic.

Margaret 00:19:58 Because when I can, I do like to buy organic. Doesn't always make sense, not always affordable, but when I can. But it looked like they might have. I don't know if that's a mold in the container, even though it was almost full, so I was really hesitant to use them, so I did not. I also have to remember that living with my dad, I have found I have found things in the fridge and in the cupboards that have been very old, so it's possible my dad bought them, who knows ten years ago and forgot about them in the fridge. I know there is stuff in the fridge door that I probably still need to clear out, and when I moved in, I don't know if I already mentioned this story on the podcast before. I think I did. About the Raisins are My dad and his raisins, all of which were pretty much all expired as well, so I was hesitant to use the capers, so I use a generous pinch of salt in its place, because even though the capers would probably add a little more texture to the tapenade, another thing that they add is salt.

Margaret 00:20:56 So I just added a pinch of salt in lieu of these capers, fresh parsley, rough chopped pepper and all in your olive oil. And again, because it's all going into the blender, like you don't really have to chop this stuff like the shallots or the onion that I used. I just rough chopped it through them in. You put it in the blender and you puree until combined and it should have a coarse texture and that's it. And if you try it, let me know what you think. If you did any variations to it, made any variations added subtracted. I would love to hear it. I always love to hear that stuff, because I can also share with the fine folks who are listening to this show, because we all have something in common one. We're all incredibly smart and good looking, and two, we all love edibles and we enjoy cannabis. So in all its various forms, we all have that in common. People have like suggestions of how they use their own tapenade.

Margaret 00:21:47 Then that's also great. This could be nice on a charcuterie board. You could put it on crackers, maybe some little pita slices with eggs like I did, with chicken, like the suggestion in the cookbook. There's lots of ways you can use this and be forewarned it makes it a fair amount. I filled a little mason jar with it, but also it doesn't last long because it tastes good and you're going to eat it. You can eat up relatively quickly, so that's the recipe for this week. I hope you enjoyed it. And of course, if you know someone who loves olives as much as I do, share this recipe with them. I might have to send this one to my daughter because one of my daughter's loves loves olives, and when she was living at home as a teenager, she would want me to buy cans of olives and she would pop the top and eat them like she was eating Pringles. It was kind of crazy. I've never seen another kid do something like that, but maybe of an olive lover in your life.

Margaret 00:22:39 Share this episode with them. And of course you can stay up to date with all the things going on with the Bite Me newsletter. Consider using the products and services on the Market Recommends page, because it also helps to support the show at no extra charge to you. And I am your host, Margaret. Until next time, my dear friends. Stay high.