eating for one, cooking for two

I don’t think I came into contact with capers until I went to university. They were unknown. I remember when I saw them listed as optional in an amazing recipe by Roberto Donna for eggplant and ricotta stuffed shells with a red pepper sauce (http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/8604?section=). I immediately discounted them. A friend of mine – a salt addict –went on and on about them though at the time.

Eventually I learned to love them. They’re fantastic with smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel (the trick is to put them on the cream cheese rather than the salmon so they don’t roll off) and in penne puttanesca, which I made a few weeks ago (http://eatingforonecookingfortwo.blogspot.com/2007/05/eating-lunch-at-work.html)

So what’s the problem, then? Well, we don’t use capers often enough and the caper manufacturers must know this. Thus, they would have us buy a jar that they figure will only be used once and then fester in our refrigerator until the next time we need capers, at which point we’ll surely no longer trust the contents of said jar (despite the fact that they are pickled) and purchase another.

I refuse to give in to the caper overlords. I will use all of my capers. But where?

The lunchtime salad is a great destination for the lonely fridge-bound caper. Often, taking my staple salad to work (spinach, feta, chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, carrot, red wine vinegar) can become a bit humdrum. Adding a tablespoon of capers to the salad the past few days has been fantastic – the nearly sour, salty buds have just the right amount of give – not too mushy, but with the slightest bit of tension in the skin. And as they are often used in Mediterranean cooking, they fit right in with the chickpeas and feta. I’ve even been able to reduce the amount of vinegar I usually use.

Other possible holiday destinations for the caper?

A quick search on Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?search=caper

Sauces are great with the caper – they add salt and flavour very easily. Even a basic garlic and caper oil-based sauce would be fantastic on some fish.

And pesto! What a great idea. Tonight I’m actually making an avocado pesto – more on that tomorrow though.

Other fridge-festerers that need eating? Let me know…