The Central Grocery Store on Decatur St. in New Orleans serves up the best muffalettas in town, largely because of their phenomenal olive salad. Unfortunately, there is a minimum order of 4 quarts to get it shipped, and it's certainly not cheap. I finally duplicated their recipe at home, and this is the result.
Ingredients
2 c pitted green Spanish olives (drained; reserve juice)
½ c pitted Kalamata olives (drained)
½ c Greek-style Giardeniera (or mixed pickled vegetables, drained)
¼ c capers (drained; reserve juice)
¾ c extra virgin olive oil (Wegmans Tuscan is good, as is DaVinci brand)
¼ c reserved olive juice
2 T reserved caper juice
3 T dried oregano
½ t dried thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin slivers
Directions
Using your fingers, squish and tear olives into smaller pieces. Cut the Giardeniera into small (approximately
¼-inch size) pieces. Combine olives, Giardeniera, & capers. In a quart jar, combine remaining ingredients
and shake until well mixed. Pour dressing over olive mixture and mix well. Return marinated olive salad to quart
jar (you will probably have more than can fit) and refrigerate for a minimum of one week before using.
Before serving, remove from refrigerator and let warm to room temperature. Shake up to mix well.