♥ I love capers ♥
But, I only started loving them about 6 years ago. Before that, whenever I’d go to buy olives or marinated artichoke hearts, I would wonder what those little green peas in the jar next to them tasted like. Then I finally put two and two together when I was eating at an Italian restaurant. Ah HA! The little green pea thingies really weren’t peas! They were… um…. they’re….well, they kind of looked like miniature pickled brussels sprouts, only not… but… “Excuse me, ma’am… could you tell me…what exactly *are* these little round things? Oh! Capers! So THAT’s what they taste like!” Finally!

The only downside is, that capers are one of those things that unless you actively try to find new ideas for them… you end up making a lot of Chicken Piccata or Fish with Caper Tartar Sauce. LOL

So… I bet that maybe some of you who have eaten capers forever still aren’t quite sure which plant they stem from (pun intended). Well, I’ll be honest – I didn’t know either till I did a little snooping. I’ll tell ‘ya what I found, and then next time you’re out to dinner and you order something with capers, you can amaze your friends with your infinite culinary knowledge 😉

Capers are an unopened flower bud from a plant that looks like it’s got a purple fireworks display going on. Who knew?! Anyway, this shrub is called Capparis Spinosa and they’re mostly grown in the Mediterranean region. Take a look at this picture: can you believe that somebody looked at this plant, saw this crazy flower, and thought “hey… I should taste some of those buds… They look fabulous!” Must’ve been that same person who tried lobster the first time. 

Okay, now to the rest of the story. Remember how  last week I said that Jeff’s Naturals sent me those new Diced Tamed Jalapeños? Well, I also won a couple of jars of their capers from a random drawing on their Facebook page.  So, I couldn’t wait to make up a new recipe to highlight these little green balls of tangy-ness!

I’d just come home from Trader Joes, and took a look at the stuff in my grocery bag. Yep… that would work… yeah… that too. Oh! And I’ll add some of this! Next thing you know, I’m chowing down on this delightfully refreshing dish. Hope you like it too 🙂

Sweet & Tangy Caper Chicken

2 organic chicken breasts
1½ Tablespoons olive oil
1½ Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice, divided
1 red organic apple, diced
2 fresh mandarin oranges, peeled and sectioned
 ¾ teaspoon freeze dried dill
1 Tablespoon Jeff’s Naturals Capers, drained

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a large skillet set on medium heat; add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through. Add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and butter and stir occasionally until nearly all liquid is soaked up by the chicken. Add apples and put heat down to a medium-low setting. Add last Tablespoon of lemon juice and cook until apples begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Add mandarin sections and dill. Cook 4 more minutes, stirring. Add drained capers and stir till capers are just heated through. By the way, the capers have enough briny taste, that you don’t need to add any salt 🙂
This can be served over quinoa, rice, or pasta…or you could be like me and just eat it by itself. PS: I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and they were yummy!

I always like to put something semi-pertinent to the recipe at the bottom of each blog, whether it’s a cartoon, video, or music.

Well, this time I had nothing… well, until Kenny and I started making really bad puns.