My Feud With Capers

Recently, my friend Sarah took me on my inaugural trip to Costco. It was beautiful and glistening with hundreds--maybe thousands--of things I didn't know I needed.

As I strolled the aisles, (and by "strolled" I mean "walked so fast I was nearly jogging because I had two kids in the cart") I debated which innovative item would come home with me. A beach chair with a built in beach bag? Bulk diapers or milk? A glassware set that could replace our plasticware so my husband wouldn't get weird sperm?

Nope. I blew past all of those things. I came home with a quart of capers. Yes, capers. Capers are like the Lindsey Lohan of the cooking world. Every 10 years they're in something good and the rest of the time they're just around doing God knows what and costing a lot of money.

In hindsight I can admit it was a terrible game time decision. Sarah was unimpressed. I tried to defend my choice: "We love capers. We eat them all the time. Can't get enough of them, really."

Clearly, I'm having buyer's remorse and also looking for new caper recipes. My family might revolt if I suggest chicken piccata again...

Here's one we tried recently that was pretty good:

Tomato Basil CAPER Quinoa Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves minced garlic
• 20 basil leaves, torn or julienned 
• 2 teaspoons chopped oregano
• 2/3 cup capers (optional, unless you live in my house)
• salt and pepper to taste
• red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 pound dried quinoa pasta
• 1 cup parmesan cheese

Heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and let it cook for about a minute. Next add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I used an assorted variety of small tomatoes. They looked amazing. They're practically the beauty queens of the tomatoes world.

In a sauce pan bring 4 quarts water to a boil. I cook all my pastas in chicken broth, so I added a bouillon paste to the water once it boiled. Then I added the quinoa pasta.

Side note about the quinoa pasta: I first heard about it from my friend Sarah (a different Sarah, but still just as awesome.) Sarah is an exercise physiologist, personal training expert and nutritionist. Also she's built like a superhero. So when she recommended quinoa pasta as a high protein, gluten-free alternative to pasta, I gave it a shot. Sarah did warn against overcooking, so I began checking the pasta at six minutes. It ended up being al dente at eight minutes. I drained it and rinsed it with cold water.

See, it looks totally normal.

When the tomatoes look deflated like a week old balloon you want to throw away but your toddler might not survive if you do, add the capers. They only need to cook long enough to heat through, so a minute or two.

Pour the tomato mixture over the pasta, add the parmesan and toss. Many of the tomatoes will burst, and their juice becomes part of the sauce. At this point I added red pepper flakes to my husband's dish because he likes a little heat.

Quinoa pasta verdict: It was really good. The texture was a tiny bit more grainy than traditional pasta, but I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I didn't already know it was made from quinoa. I will say I reheated the leftovers the next day for lunch, and the pasta was a bit sketch. Definitely better the first time around.

Enjoy!