Guest Post: Roasted Greek Salad, by Hayley Stobbs

Sunday, January 11, 2015 Alanna Figueira 6 Comments

My friend and I were talking about her honeymoon to Europe over the phone the other day and ended up having a long conversation about her new-found love for olives. Olives used to be a food aversion of hers until she experienced their fresh taste in Italy. It’s amazing how quality sourced food can make such a difference in taste and I can attest to many encounters of icky olives in my past that had to be picked out of Greek salads. We also agreed that when quality food is repeatedly introduced, just as vegetables may be introduced more than several times to a young child before they decide that they’re okay, our taste buds adapt or ‘acquire’ to a new palatable taste. This dairy-free and autoimmune paleo winter Greek salad stars olives prepared in a most delicious way – if you haven’t tried roasting olives with a little coconut butter and herbs, get to it! I first came across the idea of roasted olives in ’28 days of low-fodmap aip’ by Christina Feindel (Thanks Christina!). The bitter flavour transforms into a subtle, savoury- sweet taste and makes for a nourishing, satisfying companion to add to any salad or vegetable meal.

Roasted Greek Salad/My Big Fat Greek Salad

Hands-On Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients

¾ - 1 cup sliced black olives packed in water, drained
5 – 6 teaspoons coconut butter
1 cup zucchini, chopped
½ cup red onion, fine sliced, optional
2 - 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 – 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced, optional
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Sea salt to sprinkle
1 ½ cups romaine lettuce, shredded
3 small red radishes, sliced
Splash of red wine vinegar
Splash of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
Additional dollops of coconut butter, optional
Protein of choice, poached or baked, sliced or diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place sliced black olives in an 8X8 inch baking pan with the zucchini and optional red onion. Top with dollops of coconut butter.
2. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables and lightly toss to make sure that they are all coated. Sprinkle with dried oregano, garlic cloves, thyme, and sea salt. Transfer to your oven to bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, shred the romaine and place into a bowl or plate. Slice the radishes and prepare your protein of choice.
4. Remove the vegetables from the oven and serve over the romaine with the radishes and protein. Dress with a small splash of red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and a couple extra dollops of coconut butter to serve. Enjoy!

About Hayley

Hayley Stobbs is a Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner (RNCP), real food chef, and student of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Victoria, British Columbia. Hayley currently creates recipes for individualized ‘build your own cookbooks’ at Beyond Nourished www.beyondnourished.com. You can check out her culinary recipes and food photos on her Facebook page, ‘I Eat Real Food,’ and on Instagram at ieatrealfood.recipes.