Olives burst with flavor in topping for salmon

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Olives, the standby of the relish tray, have distinctive flavor profiles that enhance your cooking and dining pleasure.

Although olives, served alone, make an effortless appetizer course, this fruit is also a flavorful ingredient that enhances many summer dishes. Depending on the variety you choose, olives can add a rich buttery flavor, complex herbal accent or piquant bite to recipes.

For example, start with oil-cured black olives seasoned with thyme. Mince a handful and blend into softened butter.

Spread on crusty bread, and you've got an instant feast. Or chop up some green Spanish olives and stir into a bowl of chopped tomatoes, garlic and shallots. Spread on bread and run under the broiler for a minute for a savory snack.

Because olives are popular now as a source of healthful fat, you should have no trouble finding some interesting and tasty varieties.

Supermarkets and gourmet food stores alike often stock Greek kalamata, Nicoise and Sicilian olives, along with the generically labeled black or green olives. If possible, opt for olives from a refrigerated deli case or olive bar. The texture of refrigerated olives is usually crisper and better.

However, don't think you have to buy the unpitted version for authenticity sake. Removing the pit allows the heady olive brine to saturate the fruit, according to David Rosengarten, a New York gourmet food writer.

In the recipe that follows, salmon fillets are roasted and topped with a mellow-tasting combination of olives, shallot, pine nuts and herbs.

You can double the olive recipe and use the leftovers to top an omelet or a slice of sourdough bread. Serve the salmon with lemon-scented rice on the side.

Roast salmon with olive spread