There’s a tea store I love locally here, and it’s owned by the same people who own a spice, vinegar, and oil store. That store stocks oils and vinegars made by Olivelle, along with some of their spice mixes and a lot of individual spices.
I already know I love their products. I’ve been using their lemon balsamic vinegar for years now, mostly to roast veggies, which is absolutely delicious.
I’ve been curious, though. In order to promote their products, Olivelle produces these recipe cards. A lot of them aren’t really that interesting to me, but I decided to pick a few to try out, and settled on these three.
And no, this isn’t sponsored. As far as I can tell, Olivelle doesn’t even have an affiliate program or anything; this is just me reviewing some things I enjoyed.
Mediterranean Chicken Wrap
The first of the three I tried is the Mediterranean chicken wrap. It’s pretty simple in concept; a chicken wrap with Mediterranean spices and flavors, fresh veggies, and feta cheese. As far as Olivelle products, it uses:
- Cucumber Balsamic Vinegar
- Garlic & Herb Infused Olive Oil
- Lemon & Dill Tzatziki Rub
- Citrus Dill Sea Salt
Of those I only got the first two. I already had my own citrus sea salt and fresh dill from my garden, and the local store didn’t have the tzatziki mix so I bought a different one from elsewhere. Yes, I know; reviewing a recipe while making substitutions is wack, but these were pretty 1:1 substitutions. I didn’t, like, slap it on some bread and then review it as a sandwich or anything.
I do like the flavor mixture for the chicken. The dressing they make, using tahini, is also very tasty. Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard chicken wrap.
Greek Yogurt with Chocolate Raspberry Granola
The second recipe I tried was a dessert more in line with the kinds of things I like to make. In fact, I already make some parfaits that are pretty similar, just using store-bought granola and adding some peaches.
This one uses another four Olivelle products:
- Blood Orange Olive Oil
- Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
- Brownie Batter Sugar Shaker
- Vanilla Infused Sea Salt
Once again, I had no trouble getting the oil and vinegar, but a harder time finding the spices locally. I ended up getting substitutions again, but they were basically the same.
This recipe has you mix up a granola made from oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, both the oil and vinegar, both the spices, and honey. You then bake that, which turns out very well, mix it with some chocolate, and then assemble your treat using yogurt, berries, granola, and a drizzle of more vinegar.
I loved this one. It’s not going to fully replace my parfaits, but I really enjoyed it.
Herbaceous Tortellini Pasta Salad
This one, honestly, might be my favorite of the three. I already make a tortellini salad that I enjoy, and this is a way to have a different kind of salad with a similar base. For Olivelle products, it uses:
- Garlic & Herb Olive Oil
- Roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinegar
- Roasted Garlic Sea Salt
- Herb & Garlic Dipper & Seasoning
This time, too, I managed to find all four. But, I’ll say that a garlic sea salt isn’t a whole lot different than just garlic powder and sea salt.
I loved this recipe, with the one caveat that it doesn’t re-heat well if you mix it all up in one big batch. The mozzarella balls just melt, and while that’s still delicious, it changes the texture of the meal.
Reviewing Olivelle
There are two things I’m reviewing here; Olivelle itself, and Olivelle’s recipes.
For Olivelle itself, I like it. I’ve enjoyed basically every balsamic and every oil I’ve tried, and I use a bunch of them for different reasons. The lemon vinegar is a staple, the infused olive oils go in a lot of different recipes, and I’ve even used the fruit balsamics to make icing with a tang to it. The current seasonal Strawberry Lemonade Balsamic is incredible!
I’ve found their products to be consistently tasty, high quality, and robust. None of these “infused oils” that have barely any flavor, or vinegars that are more vinegar than anything. They’re all very distinct.
The spice mixes are a bit of a different story. Some of them are too basic, IMO, to be worth it. I have garlic and salt, why do I need a garlic-infused salt? Others are pretty basic mixtures, which while good, don’t gain much from being this specific brand’s product.
As for the recipe cards, they’re good, but it’s certainly clear that they’re more of a means to showcase products than they are the recipes. That’s why they all use an oil, a vinegar, a spice, and a salt, right?
I say, they’re a good way to get ideas to use the products if you’re buying them without a plan, but if you know what you’re doing, they aren’t super necessary. Fun, though!
I’m glad I have a local store that stocks these, and I’m definitely going to keep buying the oils and vinegars, but I don’t know that the recipes are an essential part of the experience.
If you’ve never tried out a variety of flavored balsamic vinegars, definitely give them a try.