I got so many amazing comments last Friday–you ladies are amazing, encouraging and so positive! I managed to spend the whole weekend relaxing rather than worrying–and last night? I slept the entire night! Oh yeah. Life is still uncertain, but I can live with that. Especially when my weekends look like this:
And, heck, I may get to spend a lot more time doing this for a while. Can’t say unemployment wouldn’t have it’s perks, too…
To top it off, it’s now Monday which means it’s time for another round of MMAZ with Heather!
This week’s veggie was caperberries, a food I didn’t even know existed. I mean, I know capers, but caperberries? But let me tell you, I had way too much fun with these adorable suckers. My first attempt was a deconstructed, vegan and fitness nutrition-approved version of the New York Times’ tomato and goat cheese tart recipe.
Roasted onion and tomato topped with baked socca topped with (a rather failed attempt at) Kristina’s vegan goat cheese topped with parsley and an adorably, tangy and salty caperberry. I wasn’t impressed with this as a meal, and may or may not have just picked out the socca and tomato to eat, but it sure looked cute.
You know I’m not much for presentation. On weekends I throw stuff on a plate. On weekdays I throw stuff in plastic containers. But caperberries? They sent me on a garnishing rampage.
While my “tart” was disappointing, this meal makes up for about twenty kitchen failures. Seitan piccata, oh my gosh, will you marry me? Homemade baked seitan dredged in seasoned chickpea flour and then pan fried, with lemon, fresh rosemary and caperberries.
Ever eaten a caperberry? What did you do with your weekend?
Gorgeous presentation in the last shot – the caperberries look awesome! Are they different than basic capers? They look a lot bigger than the little ones, but I’m assuming they taste the same. Aaaaaand now you’ve got me craving them. Thanks for that!
Yeah, they are much bigger and a lot less powerful, although otherwise the same taste. Mmm, you should totally get some capers. Love the salty/tangy combo on most everything.
So does it taste like a bigger caper? I’ve never heard of it either!
Yeah, pretty much. A little less strong in taste, and I’m not sure I like the texture as much, but they look so coool on things. The recommendation on the label was to use them in a martini…which is something that has to happen now.
Your weekend looks much like mine! YUM! Your tart actually looks delicious to me, so sorry to hear it was a flop.
Oh well, live and learn! I did enjoy the tomato, because, mmm, roasted tomatoes are the best.
call me crazy, but Ive never even heard of one of those berries. Apparently, Im not a very good foodie lol
Neither am I–I just thought it was a fancy name for a caper at first! Now I know…
oh, no! what happened with the goat cheese? did it not taste good, or was it the consistency?
I’d love to know more about what happened…
It was sort of both? The consistency I’ll blame on not having a really nice blender (my Magic Bullet never REALLY incorporates everything together when it comes to pureeing)–it came out really sticky/gooey, and then tasted really strongly of just ACV. So I don’t know what I did wrong on that one. It was a fun experiment, if nothing else! I’m definitely going to try my hand at vegan-cheese making again.
what happened with the goat cheese? i want to try that one out too.
your picatta looks awesome! love the idea of dredging it in chickpea flour.
Hmm, I don’t know. It came out really wet/sticky and tasted like straight up ACV. Oh, well. And mmm, that picatta was the best, and the chickpea flour worked perfectly, it was sort of a shot in the dark to see if I could “crust” something with it.
I’m definitely of the “throw things on a plate” camp. But your little tart is adorable!
Also, “weekend capers,” ha ha!
Sometimes my mind turns on on a Monday ;D At least enough for puns…
And the rest of the week? Stuff-on-a-plate. I’ve used up my fancy for a month, I do believe
I’ve heard of capers but not caperberries…I’m yet to come across a berry I don’t like so i must look into these
! Presentation is overrated, the piccata sounds AWESOME! Glad you had a relaxing weekend..mine was very busy, yet fun..and fortunately I didn’t wake up this morning feeling exhausted (as I expected) so I’d say it’s a win all round!
Haha, well, they’re definitely more like a caper than a regular berry, but if you like anything pickled/salty/tangy, you should track them down! And nothing like a great weekend that doesn’t leave you drained!
They do call it FUNemployment for a reason.
Man, I could totally do that relaxation/getting nothing done thing every day. If it weren’t for the fact that I like getting paid, too…
I’ve never even heard of a caperberry! Now I really wanna try one!
I’ve never heard of a caperberry either!! Definitely gotta look for some now!
I’ve heard of capers, but never caperberries! They look quite interesting! Your homemade seitan looks fantastic!
Um, no clue about caperberries! Glad you had a great weekend!
I love caperberries! Glad you had a good weekend
Well – every recipe can’t be perfect, but it DOES look good! I’m glad that you discovered a new food from MMAZ – aren’t they awesome?!
That goat cheese tart looks good!
Who doesn’t love caper berries? They are so verstaile to use, in pasta, in oven roasted dishes, etc!