If you have tried Laura's Garlic Herb Dip once, I bet you've made it several times. I still don't have the courage to add as many cloves of garlic as Laura does but we are hooked on that stuff.
It is absolutely amazing spooned over freshly baked crusty bread, but I love to drizzle it over grilled veggies, too.
The beauty of the recipe is that it really isn't a recipe. You just take a handful of fresh herbs of your choice and chop them up with some garlic, drizzle olive oil over the top and season.
Easy peasy.
Last week I had made a beautiful, crusty double loaf of Luce's New Italian Bread.
Charles Luce makes gluten free artisan bread so easy. I tweak the recipe ever so slightly and double it, baking it in a covered casserole instead of his baking bags. It comes out just right. The double sized loaf works better for my family.
We were getting ready to grill some veggies when I remembered Laura's dip.
I went outside to pick herbs and there just wasn't enough to make a nice amount so I grabbed a can of Santa Barbara Olive Company Olives. These are my favorite olives so only about 2/3 of the can made it into the dip. The texture and size of these olives are so perfect and they have several olives that are gluten free. A bonus is Santa Barbara is where my mom's family lived when I was young. The old mission on the label just makes me happy.
The result was really phenomenal. The olive texture and salty flavor worked so well with the garlic. The herbs I had on hand were fresh basil, mint, oregano and a tiny bit of chives. Any fresh herb you love works and the more flavors, the better. Because Laura loves olives I felt she'd approve of this addition. =DWe rounded out dinner with a roasted beet salad and it felt like the perfect summer meal.
Again, this really isn't a real recipe, but here's what I did.
Olive, Garlic & Herb Dipping Oil:
I chopped a handful fresh mixed herbs finely with 3 cloves of garlic.
When they were chopped I added about a cup of drained jumbo black olives and roughly chopped them.
I put the mixture in a bowl and covered with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I used freshly ground Himalayan Salt, Black Pepper and Hot Hungarian Paprika to season the dipping oil. We have kept extra dipping oil two or three days in the fridge.
Happily shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays over at Gluten Free Easily!
Enjoy!
