Black Olive Tapenade For A Flat Belly Diet

The Flat Belly Diet's tag line is "a MUFA at every meal." MUFAs are monounsaturated fatty acids, the healthy fats your body needs. They can help to lower cholesterol levels and control insulin and blood sugar levels. A variety of foods contain MUFAs, and olives are one of them. A black olive tapenade on crusty whole-grain bread may be exactly what you are looking for as one of your Flat Belly Diet 400-calorie snacks.

Tapenade

Tapenade is a chunky paste made from olives, capers and olive oil. Capers are the edible buds of the caper bush and are usually pickled in vinegar or preserved in sea salt. Traditional tapenade uses black olives and anchovies, but you can use any type of olive you like. You can also feel free to skip the anchovies. Many of today's tapenade recipes leave them out, opting instead for sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts or any number of other flavorful ingredients.

Making Tapenade

Tapenade is available in stores, but is also easy to make fresh. In a food processor, pulse 2 cups of olives, one clove of crushed garlic, 2 tbsp. of capers, and three or four anchovies -- or other ingredient -- until coarsely chopped. While pulsing, drizzle in about 2 tbsp. each of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice, suited to your taste and desired tapenade consistency. For a smoother tapenade, run the food processor longer. To prepare your tapenade in a more traditional manner, crush the ingredients together using a mortar and pestle. For enhanced flavor, add herbs and spices such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, black pepper or chili flakes when you blend the other ingredients.

Tapenade Calories

To follow the Flat Belly Diet, you must eat four 400-calorie meals each day for a total of 1,600 calories. A serving of black olive tapenade can easily fit into that meal/snack plan. If you make your black olive tapenade fresh, add up the calories in each ingredient to find the total calories and divide by the size of your serving. Instead of doing the math, though, you can estimate the calories by reading the nutrition facts for a store-bought jar of black olive tapenade. In general, these contain 35 to 40 calories, 3 to 4 g of fat, 1 carb and no protein per 1 tbsp. serving.

Fat Calories

The Flat Belly Diet is not a low-fat diet. Although MUFAs, including olives, are healthy fats from plant sources, they still contain the same number of calories per gram as saturated, unhealthy fats from animal sources. Keep a watch on how many of your 1,600 calories per day are coming from fat. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that only 20 percent to 35 percent of daily calories come from fat. The can of black olives and the 2 tbsp. of olive oil you use for tapenade can each contain as many as 28 g of fat, which adds up to more than 30 percent of the daily fat allowance for 1,600 calories. Tapenade may be yummy, but eat it sparingly, or you will find yourself over the Flat Belly Diet calorie limit.