Chickpea Piccata and Mashed Potatoes

I have recently discovered the fabulousness that is Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction. I made chicken piccata once, back in 2001. I was a newlywed living in Germany with no job, no friends, and NO cooking skills whatsoever. Pretty much every meal I made came out of a can, a box, or the freezer, so I must have been feeling really industrious to tackle chicken piccata. Or maybe I was just embracing my inner domestic goddess. Who knows. I never made it again, by the way. I didn't want my new hubby to get used to real, from-scratch cooking when there was a whole pantry of boxed mashed potatoes and canned carrots waiting for him.

But anyway...I never forgot about that luscious, lemony, caper-studded sauce. The chicken I could totally do without. That's what chickpeas are for! Not to mention, hello, chickpeas are so much easier. Who wants to pound out chicken breasts, flour them, fry them, and all that jazz? Not me. No thank you. This piccata comes together in less than 30 minutes, and that includes making REAL mashed potatoes, FROM SCRATCH!! I'm proud to say that I've been boxed-potato-free since 2003.

The piccata is silky and delicious, flavored with shallots, white wine, and capers. My mashed potatoes are simply peeled, diced, and boiled yukon golds, mashed and flavored with just some salt, veggie broth, and a mere tablespoon of Earth Balance. They are so creamy and buttery, you'd swear they were loaded with butter and milk - but they're not!

The mashed potatoes are served on top of a pile of baby arugula, which wilts beautifully underneath. A pile of steamed broccoli finishes off the dish, because everything is better with steamed broccoli, n'est-ce pas?

Trust me - I'm not waiting another 11 years to make this!