Emeril Lagasse's Creole Olive Salad

Cookgirl's Note:

An Emeril Lagasse recipe via About.com. Perfect for Mardi Gras! Don't use canned black olives-trust me it won't taste as good. To save money, I purchased only as many olives as were needed for this recipe from our local natural food store's very convenient 'olive bar'. Don't feel obligated to limit yourself to nicoise. Use a variety of imported olives (they don't have to be French either).

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2.5 cups sa ...

• 1 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, sliced (such as Nicoise)
• 1 cup large pimento stuffed olive, sliced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (good quality, please!)
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots (I tried cippolini and shallots in combination)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery (I added 1 tablespoon of minced celery leaves, too)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley (aka Italian parsley)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (GAH-lic)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine black olives, pimiento-stuffed green olives, olive oil, shallots, celery, parsley, garlic, and pepper in a medium sized non-reactive mixing bowl.
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Note: I liked the taste of the salad better at room temperature.
3. Emeril says: "Olive Salad is used to dress those wonderful Italian sandwiches called muffalettas.".
4. We served the olive salad over a bed of mixed greens which included baby arugula.
5. Yield is estimated.