Food Ideas: Olivo lemon infused olive oil For starters or canapes with drinks, drizzle Olivo lemon infused olive oil over Oysters Haloumi Slices of raw salmon with black pepper Avocado mashed with black pepper and a dash of Tabasco and serve with crackers Lemon Orzo Salad – thanks to Ruth Pretty 250g (1.25 cups) orzo 1 teaspoon salt 250g feta (crumbled) Zest of 2 lemons 6 tablespoons roughly chopped mint leaves 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons sea salt 65ml (1/4 cup) Olivo lemon infused olive oil   Cook the orzo in boiling water until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold running water. When cool, transfer to serving bowl and combine with feta, lemon zest, mint and seasoning. Toss with lemon infused olive oil. Lemon cake Everyone loves lemon cake, and this is a fabulously lemony beauty.   Even better, it can all be done in a food processor in five minutes.   2 Eggs 2 cups Sugar 300g Piako lemon curd yogurt 225 g Olivo lemon-infused oil 1  Lemon, zested 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste (I use Heilala) 2 cups Plain flour (or 2 cups Self-raising flour and forget the baking powder) 1 tsp Baking powder   Beat sugar and eggs together. Add the yoghurt, oil, lemon zest and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Finally add the flour and baking powder.   Bake in a round tin (9 inch/23 cm diameter) at 180°C for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn out and when cool, dust with icing sugar. Serve with Lavender’s Green lemon curd on the side.   Gluten-free variation   My friend Mary Biggs of Lavender’s Green is gluten-free, so when I took this cake to her place for dinner recently I made it gluten-free by swapping plain for quinoa flour. It was deliciously moist and slightly nutty from the quinoa, and we liked it as much as the regular version.    Quinoa is a South American grain and I was pleased to find quinoa flour at Martinborough’s Pain & Kershaw store. Moore Wilson will stock it too, naturally.    See www.lavendersgreen.co.nz  for Mary’s zesty range of country flavours, made with love in Featherston. For a delicious main course, try Spaghetti with lemony seared scallops   500g fresh scallops Salt & pepper to taste 2 tablespoons of olive oil for searing the scallops (this does not have to be your top quality extra virgin) Juice of 1 lemon + zest of 1 lemon Spaghetti – fresh or good dried Italian parsley, chopped Olivo lemon infused olive oil for drizzling   Heat a cast iron skillet, add the cooking olive oil and warm for 30 seconds. Add the scallops and sear until just warmed through – 30 – 40 seconds at most. Add lemon juice to the pan, stir. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.   Heat a pot of boiling water, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water and transfer pasta to a warm serving dish. Add the warm scallops and pasta water and toss well. Sprinkle with the parsley and lemon zest and drizzle liberally with the lemon infused olive oil. Serve at once. Serves 4.   Any piece of white fish drizzled with lemon oil after cooking is lifted to cordon bleu status for a simple meal Quick Roast Lemon Chicken with Lemon Couscous   1 fresh chicken 2 preserved lemons Salt & pepper to taste Couscous Olivo lemon infused olive oil for drizzling   Place the seasoned fresh chicken in a roasting pan. Put the 2 preserved lemons (I use Lavender’s Green )in the cavity as stuffing. Drizzle over a small amount of Olivo lemon infused olive oil. Cook according to the instructions for size. While the chicken is resting, drizzle over more lemon infused oil and remove the preserved lemons, keeping them wartm.   Prepare the couscous according to instructions, adding a dash of Olivo lemon infused olive oil as the final dash of oil to keep the grains separate. Chop the preserved lemon through the couscous for a delicious (and easy) lemony taste.. Serve with a green vegetable or salad.   Pasta with zucchini, lemon, rocket and prosciutto – toss prosciutto pieces with a handful of olives and thyme leaves in a bowl. Cook pasta according to instructions and add sliced zucchini at the end of the cooking time. Add to bowl with rocket, salt and pepper, toss and drizzle with lemon oil. Serve with grated parmesan Vegetables/salads Try Olivo lemon infused olive oil over: Green beans Broccoli Rocket salad French sorrel Fresh asparagus Dessert Try Olivo lemon oil drizzled over vanilla ice-cream with a dash of sea salt – thanks to Wakelin House, Greytown for this inspiration.