capers are the new olives: chicken with lemon caper sauce, smashed potato cakes, and roasted asparagus

as i mentioned yesterday, the cotton top weekly dinner menu included chicken in a lemon caper sauce with potato cakes and asparagus. and yep, the fam ate good last night.

i actually got the chicken recipe from cooking light. i have recently fell in love with capers and like to think of them as the new olives. they are salty, tangy, vinegary, and just plain delicious. if you're skeptical about them like i was in the beginning- go small first, go big later.

i adapted paula deen's smashed potato cakes recipe towards a healthier version. lets face it - paula's version has a little too much budda for this gal. this is an easy recipe makeover from leftover mashed potatoes. we all know they never taste the same the next day, so why not try to turn into something new altogether? alright, here's how i did it:

ingredients:

4 cups of day-old mashed potatoes (if you don't have these, you could even use the ones they sell in the refrigerated section in grocery stores)

1 egg

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 to 1 cup bread crumbs

3 tablespoons of fresh parsley

s&p

3/4 cup flour

evoo

directions:

add a couple tablespoons of evoo into a medium high skillet. mix first 6 ingredients together in bowl. quickly form into little patties. dredge patties into flour and place in pan. cook about 4 minutes on each side until crust is crunchy. serve immediately.

as for the asparagus - they couldn't be simpler. heat oven to 400 degrees. coat veggies in evoo and s&p. roast for 5 to 7 minutes and you're done.

and that's it. stay tuned for more recipes later this week. and where were you guys last night? i invited you over, ya know.