A spoonful of good olive oil each day does not need a recipe. It needs a habit. Here are five easy ways to fit it into an ordinary day, from the plainest to the one that takes a whisk.
Straight from the spoon
Start here, at least once. Take a spoonful in the morning, before coffee if you like, and pay attention to it. With an early harvest oil you will taste grass first, then a vibrant green intensity, then a peppery catch at the back of the throat. It is fine to cough. That is the pepper.
If plain oil feels like too much on the first morning, try a smaller spoonful, or follow it with a sip of water. Most people find they look forward to it within a week.
Over yoghurt with honey and salt
This one works as breakfast or a late snack. Spoon thick yoghurt into a bowl, drizzle with a spoonful of oil, add a small amount of honey, and finish with a pinch of flaky salt.
The sweet, the sour, the salt and the green, peppery oil balance each other. Use plain full-fat Greek yoghurt if you can. Add a few walnuts or a slice of fresh fig when you have them, but the three basics are enough.
On warm bread or ripe tomatoes
This is the most traditional way, and it is hard to improve on. Warm a slice of good bread until the crust crackles. Pour a little oil over it, and add salt. That is all.
In summer, do the same with tomatoes: slice them thick, salt them, and pour the oil over the top. Let them sit for a few minutes so the juices and oil run together, then mop it all up with bread.
Good oil is a seasoning here, not a fat for cooking. Pour it on at the table so the aroma is still bright.
Finishing soups and beans
A spoonful stirred or drizzled over a bowl of soup at the end changes it. Try it on lentil soup, tomato soup, or a pot of white beans with garlic and bay.
Two rules make this work:
- Add the oil after cooking, into the bowl, not into the pot. Long heat dulls the aroma you are paying for.
- Pour it over the surface so the first spoonful of each bite catches some.
Save your everyday oil for the pan. Keep the early harvest bottle for the finish.
Whisked into a simple lemon dressing
The one recipe worth memorizing. In a small bowl, combine the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of salt and a little black pepper. Whisk in about three tablespoons of olive oil, slowly, until the dressing looks glossy and slightly thick. Taste on a leaf and adjust: more lemon if it is flat, more oil if it is sharp.
It suits leafy greens, sliced cucumber, boiled potatoes, grilled fish or roasted vegetables. If you have a little mustard, a half teaspoon helps it hold together. Make it just before you eat it, since it is at its best fresh.
A few notes for the kitchen
- A spoonful here means about a tablespoon. Use a little more or less to suit your taste.
- You do not have to do all of these. Pick the one that suits your morning, and add another when you feel like it.
- Keep the bottle capped and in a cool cupboard so that the last spoonful tastes like the first. We wrote about that in how to keep olive oil fresh.
The point of a daily spoonful is that it becomes ordinary. A small, good thing you do at the table, most days, without thinking much about it. If you would like to try it with an early harvest oil, the MIELA bottle is here.
