Adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

¼ cup Meyer Lemon olive oil, plus more for pie plate

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.
2. Put oil and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.
4. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

Sunday is a restorative day for many people. It’s a day of rest and reflection for some. It’s a day spent with loved ones. It’s a day to wind down from the previous week and prepare for the coming. For me, it’s a day when all of my messes get cleaned up and order is restored. And at the end of the day, with a newly stocked fridge, dear husband and I prepare a meal to be shared in our sparkling clean home before we go and mess it all up again next week. While we don’t manage to keep our sense of peace and sanity long, we cherish our Sundays and the restorative power of a simple meal in a happy home. Following is one of our favorite Sunday dinners adapted for the season. I used We Olive’s Ascolano extra virgin olive oil in each of the following preparations. It’s  buttery flavor is perfect for roasting, and the surprising peppery kick on the finish adds a layer of complexity that belies its mild flavor. While the chicken will serve 4, I make just enough potatoes and beans for the meal as they don’t reheat well, then I shred the leftover chicken to be used in another meal. If you’re serving 4, double the quantities of the side dishes. Enjoy!

Lemon and Thyme Roast Chicken
You’ll need:
1 whole chicken, 3.5 – 4 lbs
1 lemon, cut in half
4 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, preferably We Olive Ascolano

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the giblets from the cavity along with any large fat deposits. Discard. Rinse the chicken and cavity and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the skin of the chicken with most of the olive oil. Use the remaining oil to prepare a rectangular baking pan. Season the bird liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out. Place the lemon halves and time sprigs in the cavity and place the bird in the pan, breast side up.
2. Roast the chicken for 20 minutes then turn the bird breast side down and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn the bird breast side up and roast for another 20 minutes until golden. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Olive Oil Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes

Olive Oil Roasted Potatoes

You’ll need:
1.5 lbs baby Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, preferably We Olive Ascolano
salt and pepper

1. Slice the baby potatoes in half and toss with olive oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 – 25 minutes until brown and crispy on the cut sides and creamy in the center. (I popped these in the oven about 10 minutes before the chicken came out and left them in until the chicken had been rested and carved).

Fava Beans with Leeks and Garlic

You’ll need:
2 lbs fava beans
1 medium leek
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, preferably We Olive Ascolano
salt and pepper

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, remove fava beans from the shell. Blanch the beans in boiling water for about 1 minute and then drain and shock in ice water to coll.
2. Remove the beans from the tougher outer pod. (The should pop out easily after being blanched).
3. Cut the leek in half lengthwise leaving root end intact and rinse the layers thoroughly to remove sand. Cut the tough green parts off leaving only light green and white. Thinly slice each leek half.
3. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat. Saute the sliced leeks for about 4 minutes until soft, do not brown. Add the garlic and saute for another minute, until softened. Make sure not to brown the leek and garlic, keeping the heat on medium and adding extra oil if needed. Add the shelled beans to the pan and saute for 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

There are many things to love about Spring. More sunlight. Spring showers. Blooming hillsides. The thing I love most though? Seeing all those new spring veggies pop up at the farmers market. Just when I think I can’t handle another bunch of kale, I see gorgeous green and purple spring onions! Where once were boring potatoes, I find thin, crisp stalks of asparagus! And replacing the all too familiar butternut squash are delicious and delicately sweet fresh peas! Maybe my glee is a little over-the-top considering the subject matter, but if you frequent the farmers market, you’re probably nodding along with me. And if you don’t, now is the perfect time to see what’s growing in your neck of the woods and make some delicious creations with your bounty. Following is a salad I made in celebration of Spring. It’s as pretty as it is delicious and you can substitute other veggies depending on the time of year. This version is designed to be a starter or an accompaniment to a meal, but you can add cooked shrimp or chicken to the salad to make it a meal. Enjoy!

Asparagus & Spring Pea Salad
Serves 4

3/4 lb fresh peas (see note)
1 lb asparagus
1 spring onion
1 T We Olive Arbequina extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
3 T We Olive Meyer Lemon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (Whenever I’m blanching, or quickly cooking, vegetables I salt the water to taste like seawater. They’re only going to be in there for a moment, so you need to season the water well.) Remove the peas from the pods and set aside, discarding pods. Prepare the asparagus by snapping the tough ends from the stalk. Bend the thick end of the stalk until it breaks naturally. This leaves the most tender part of the asparagus and rids you of the stringy tough ends. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and place it in the sink. Drop both the asparagus and peas into the boiling salted water and blanch for 1 – 2 minutes. I like my veggies to be crisp tender, so check taste them after a minute and decide if you’d like to cook them a bit further. When crisp tender, but no raw taste remains, drain the veggies in a colander and then dunk them in the ice bath to shock them. Shocking stops the vegetables from cooking further and becoming too soft and preserves the bright green color.

2. Trim the dark green ends from the spring onion and the root from the bottom of the bulb. Slice it in half lengthwise and then slice thinly. You should have roughly a 1/2 cup of sliced onion. If you can’t find spring onion, substitute scallion or shallot in a pinch. Heat 1 tablespoon of We Olive Arbequina extra virgin olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft and translucent but do not brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Finely grate the zest from one lemon and set aside. Juice the lemon and add 1 tablespoon of juice to a medium bowl. Whisk 3 tablespoons of We Olive Meyer Lemon extra virgin olive oil into the lemon juice until well combined. Stir in the reserved sliced spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Toss the asparagus and peas in the dressing and check the seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Divide among 4 plates or serve family style on a platter. Garnish with zest from lemon and serve.

Note: Fresh peas have better flavor and texture than frozen peas, but if you can’t find fresh peas, substitute 1 cup of defrosted frozen peas and skip the blanching step.

Blueberry Olive Oil Muffins
Makes 9 muffins
Recipe from Radically Simple by Rozanne Gold

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, such as We Olive’s fruity Arbequina
1 1/4 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together the egg, buttermilk, and olive oil. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture with a rubber spatula until a batter forms. Gently stir in the berries. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden. Let cool.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that notion is certainly not lost on the We Olive team. From store owners, sales associates, and even our resident techie, we’ve collected plenty of great recipes and ideas for using California’s best extra virgin olive oil for the first meal in the morning. Enjoy!

From Zona & Wayne Rogers, owners of We Olive Fresno:

“We love to add a touch of Meyer Lemon olive oil and fresh blueberries to our pancake batter.”

From Adam Martinez, resident techie at We Olive:

“My breakfast idea is a play on the diet-friendly cottage cheese fruit bowl, but drizzled with a light and fruity olive oil (even Meyer lemon perhaps?) and some Aged Balsamic for that sweet tang.”  Try Adam’s breakfast with fresh melon and ripe berries!

From Ruth Mercurio, Managing Partner of We Olive:

“One of my favorite things is to drizzle hard boiled eggs with a nice fruity olive oil, salt and pepper.  The olive oil really punches up the flavor!”

From Jordan Aylesworth, Assistant Manager of We Olive San Francisco:

“I’ve been using our Blackberry Balsamic as a substitute for maple/other syrups on pancakes and waffles. It is TO DIE FOR and also very good with a little Blood Orange EVOO in place of butter. It’s an excellent way for those trying to cut back on their sugar intake to eat healthier while still enjoying their favorite breakfast carbs!”

And my personal favorite? I toast whole wheat bread and top it with sliced or mashed ripe avocado and then drizzle it with EVOO and crunchy Maldon salt.

Like these ideas? Check out two more recipes coming from our San Francisco and Walnut Creek stores, here. Have a great idea you’d like to see posted? Send your EVOO recipes to me at edavis@weolive.com.

Lauren Mahlke, culinary whiz at We Olive Walnut Creek, shared this knockout recipe for breakfast crepes. Enjoy!

Lauren’s Breakfast Crepes
Makes 18 crepes

You’ll need:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch kosher salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup club soda
3 tablespoons Blood Orange Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus 3 tablespoons for cooking the crepes

For the filling:
Mascarpone cheese
Raspberries, sliced strawberries or bananas
Your favorite fudge sauce (Lauren likes B.R. Cohn’s Chocolate Raspberry Cabernet Fudge)

To make the batter:
1. In a mixing bowl, add the flour and salt and make a well in the center. Add the remaining ingredients, except the olive oil, into the center of the well and whisk together until just combined. The mixture should be like VERY loose pancake batter. If the mixture is a little thick, whisk in a little more milk. Let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes before using.

*Tip: Crepe batter can be made up to 2 days in advance, covered and refrigerated.

To make the crepes:
1. Heat about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in a small nonstick saute pan. The olive oil should coat the bottom of the pan, if there is a lot of excess, wipe it out with a paper towel. Keep the paper towel handy in case you need it again (you will).
2. Put the pan over medium heat. Fill a 2-ounce ladle, almost to the top, with batter and pour it into the preheated pan, tipping and rolling the pan, as you ladle the batter, to evenly cover the bottom. This will take a little practice, even when you are an experienced crepe maker the first couple always get wasted. Accept it and move on!
3. When the edges of the crepe begin to pull away from the edges of the pan and the bottom begins to brown a little, turn the crepe over and cook it for about 1 minute on the other side. Remove the crepe from the pan to a plate and let cool. Stack the crepes as they are cooked between parchment paper squares. Repeat this process, until all the batter is used, wiping the pan with your paper towel or melting a little more oil to the pan, as needed.
4. Fill crepes with mascarpone cheese, raspberries, strawberries, or bananas and top with fudge sauce. Enjoy!

We Olive San Francisco store owner, Ferris Ferdon, shares with us his decadent brunch recipe for a southern style cheese grits souffle, which he’s famous for among family and friends. Enjoy!

Ferris’ Southern Cheese Grits Souffle
Serves 6-8

4 cups water
2 cups quick grits (preferably Albert’s)
1 tablespoon Arbequina extra virgin olive oil
6 slices Kraft cheddar Singles
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Olivas de Oro Cilantro Jalapeno olive oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper

1. Brush a medium baking dish with olive oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring the water and grits to a slow boil. Cook according to package directions.
3. When water is absorbed and while stirring, add the tablespoon of Arbequina to the pot along with a pinch of salt. Add the Kraft singles and stir until melted and fully incorporated.
4. Once the cheese is melted turn off heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs and Cilantro Jalapeno olive oil to the grits. Stir well. Pour into a medium baking dish. Cover the top with shredded cheddar and fresh ground pepper.
5. Bake for 35 minutes at 350. Serve.

Working at We Olive, I have an endless source of inspiration for healthy and delicious meals. As new products arrive in store and are sampled by our foodie staff, the tasting inevitably turns into a brainstorming session on best uses for the olive oil and typically ends in a mixology competition in pairing it with a vinegar. (Who knew Sonoma Smoked Olive Oil could invoke barbecue sauce when paired with our Aged Balsamic?) A recent discussion on Olio Nuovo with La Jolla store manager, Chris Swain, revealed that he drizzles the unfiltered EVOO over his fruit loaded steel cut oats in the morning. This prompted me to share my olive oil and toast obsessions: toast with avocado slices, drizzled with a peppery extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with a crunchy sea salt. Or toast with strawberry jam and Meyer Lemon olive oil. This also led me to conclude that I was probably missing out on all kinds of tasty ways to start my day with EVOO and so I began to poll. I asked store owners, We Olive shoppers, and pretty much anyone I knew that had a love for liquid gold for their best EVOO based breakfasts. Starting today, I’ll be posting a tasty collection of recipes and ideas for incorporating California’s best extra virgin olive oil into the most important meal of the day. Enjoy!

Maple-Cinnamon Quinoa with Fruit, Ricotta, and EVOO
Adapted from recipe by Martha Stewart
Serves 4

You’ll need:

To Make:
1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
2. Stir in maple syrup and cinnamon. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 8 minutes. Stir in fruit, and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Divide quinoa among four bowls. Top each with a tablespoon of ricotta. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with orange zest and chopped nuts. Serve with extra fruit and syrup if desired.

Remember when kale’s primary purpose was to provide a frilly garnish on a bad buffet platter? Well kale has come a long way, becoming the star of many a chef’s plate, thanks in large part to the seasonal/local/farm-to-table trend. Kale is also a nutrional heavyweight: full of vitamins, antioxidants and even a hearty dose of fiber. There are many ways to incorporate this super food into your diet: steaming, stir-frying, but my favorite is a quick roast resulting in delicious crispy, nutty “chips” of sort. A perfect snack when you’re craving some crunch or a nice side to roasted chicken or meats. This recipe is incredibly adaptable, as you can flavor the cooked kale chips with citrus or spice in any number of combinations. Enjoy!

You’ll need:
20 cups kale, torn into bite-size pieces, washed and thoroughly dried (See Note)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used We Olive Fresh Garlic for an extra hit of flavor)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To Make:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the kale and dry thoroughly. If it’s not dry, it will steam rather than crisp in the oven.
2. In a large bowl, toss kale pieces with olive oil and kosher salt. Make sure the kale is thoroughly coated with olive oil, you may need to rub the oil onto each kale piece until it glistens. Spread the kale out on 2 large sheet pans. Bake the kale chips until the leaves look crisp and crumble, about 12 minutes. If they are not ready, bake for another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Makes 6 – 8 servings.

Note: I tried standard curly kale and organic red kale, a flatter leaf variety. The organic red kale crisped up in about 6 minutes, while the curly kale took the full 12. While I enjoyed both, the standard curly kale had better flavor and texture than the flat kale.