Butter Together: a 3-minute Olive Sauce

If you're reading this and you're feeling uninspired or not in the mood to cook an extra-fancy meal: this was written for you. This is not your typical recipe post - it's a time-saving, extra-kick-of-flavour-under-two-minutes one. Because let's be honest with ourselves for a second, when is the last time you made a garnish or a sauce that someone commented on and begged you for the recipe? Not recently? I promise it'll happen.

This sauce/topping (depending on how liquid you make it!) will truly save your fish, chicken or vegan meals, because they have one crowd-favourite ingredient in common: o l i v e s. And it not only works as a side garnish for a platter, you can use the leftovers to toss a salad with! You can additionally try it out with any types of fresh citrus or herbs you have laying around - I have tried them all (lime instead of lemon, cilantro or dill instead of parsley) and it always comes out tasting fresh and oh-so-buttery! So take this as a template and run with it for your next gathering.

I have created this sauce in collaboration with California Ripe Olives so pick some up on your next trip to the store and let me know how it goes!

All you need,

California Ripe Olives (a handful)

Chopped parsley (4 tbsp)

Fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

Butter (3 tbsp)

Olive oil (4 tbsp)

Black pepper (to taste)

Sea salt (to taste)

Cod filet

Note: feel free to use another type of fish or protein, these nutty-tasting olives go well with just about anything!

A few simple steps,

1. In a pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and sear the cod filet(s), about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and keep warm.

2. In the same pan, melt butter and add lemon juice and olives. Sprinkle with parsley and toss. You only need a minute or two for the flavours to blend together.

3. Add the cod back in the pan and use a spoon to splash the olive and butter mixture onto the fish.

4. Serve the fish filet(s) alongside a greens and starch combination of your choice: a parsley and potato mash with green beans, grilled platter of brussel sprouts and cubed potatoes, homemade sweet potato fries with a garlic-spinach sautée - trust me, I can go on forever!

Fun suggestion: whenever I have fresh bread on its last soft day, I like to chop it in small cubes and grill those with the butter and oil from the pan until I have myself some homemade croutons. How can you go wrong with starch? You can't.