Inspiration: Capers are one of those pantry staples that I under-appreciate, like lemon pepper or dried chiles. I always seem to buy them for a specific purpose (and it’s always chicken piccata), and then I never use them for anything else. Brandon particularly loves them, so I would love to start using them more often!

What we Loved: This was really a lovely and simple side dish that would work well with nearly any main dish that you served it with. It really worked beautifully with the crab-stuffed salmon that we paired it alongside, since both dishes were nice and light with some tart, lemony undertones. The capers in this recipe really mellowed out in the oven, while still providing a slightly tart contrast to the earthy mushrooms, and the water released from the mushrooms mixed with the garlic and butter to really create a nice, earthy sauce that was wonderful.

Helpful Hints: If you’re serving these mushrooms alongside a main dish as I did, you’ll definitely want to serve them in individual dishes, as shown above. There’s a lot of that delicious buttery sauce poured down in there!

Roasted Mushrooms with Garlic Butter and Capers
Source: Adapted (slightly) from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Gourmet.com

1 pound cremini mushrooms
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons lemon juice

1. Toss the mushrooms with the capers, garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish.

2. Top with the butter pieces. Roast at 450, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and a sauce begins to form below (about 20 minutes).

3. Stir in the lemon juice and serve.