My weekend in 11 photos

 

Every photography tutorial/blog/etc that I read says that you MUST SHOOT IN MANUAL, at all times, to really learn how to use your camera.

That... is difficult. The pictures turn out so nicely in any of the helper modes! (Aperture priority, I'm looking at you.)

BUT! Those photographers, those tutorial-writers, they know their stuff... because it's true. The more I practice and play in manual, the more I learn and the easier it gets. Also, some really fun stuff is starting to happen.

I had no. earthly. idea. my camera could take a photo like the one I took above of the lake at night! And I'm pretty sure that never would have happened in automatic.

So, I pretty much snapped away all weekend.

1 // Fact: cloudy days make better sunrises

2 // Tortellini, mozzarella and tomato skewers with balsamic glaze for game night 

3 // New print from a small boutique just outside Chicago (read: Ikea) -- a series of animal sketches by Picasso

4 // Saturday nights in + practice practice practice 

5 // Officially fall

6 // The Chicago skyline from Olive Park

7 // Loving the (city-sanctioned) street art at Illinois + LSD

8 // Olive Park walking West

9 // Old and new: animal-print Turkish jewelry dish + a landscape from my grandfather

10 // Pumpkin seeds with S&P, garlic powder + smoked paprika (the trick is not to wash them first!)

11 // Jack-o-lanterns! 

Unpictured: Cards Against Humanity (yikes), strawberry + balsamic pastries by my sister, multiple trips to Dollop, Portillo salads, Ikea madness, Uncle Julio's carry-out, my first Divvy ride ever. 

I hope your weekends were great, too :) 

The Smart Lady's Guide to Homemade* Hummus

Have you ever looked up a recipe for hummus from a chef or blogger that's really, really good? The standard recipe is: garbanzo beans, olive oil, tahini, seasoning. Process it all together.

Then, there are those that reallyyyyy know their stuff, that go above and beyond, and they add one very special step. They are happy to tell you the secret to the smoothest, creamiest hummus.

Do you know what it is?

De-shelling the freaking garbanzo beans.

Seriously. Every, single one. Here's what you do. There's a really thin layer (membrane? Worst. Word. Ever.) that covers every single little pea bean and if you pinch the outsides of it gently, it'll pop right out of that shell. Discard the shell. High five! You did ONE bean. Now, do a thousand.

No thanks! I did it once and it was smoother and creamier but I like to think of things in terms of effort and return. I am not convinced the effort was worth the return.

So, I have my own, lazy cook's secret for hummus. This is mostly just for entertaining in my book, but if you regularly make yourself fancy homemade hummus, #respect. This will work for you too. Ready? It's.........



Buy Sabra!

I like the garlic kind, but any kind will work (and honestly, so will any brand, I just happen to be particular to Sabra.) Mix it up so it looks smooth and creamy, then take it out of that plastic container and put it into a proper bowl.

Drizzle it with olive oil. If you have flavored olive oil, this is even better. We have a chili infused olive oil that is out of this world. Then, add some chili flakes and a big sprinkling of oregano. It'll make glorious little rivers and pools of extra flavor that is my 30 second version of "above and beyond." Mix it up a tiny bit but don't combine it totally. It loses both flavor and effect!

Ta da!

It looks better, tastes amazing, and I'm pretty sure the Sabra factory de-shells those bad boys for you because it's perfectly creamy and you'll enjoy an hour of your life that otherwise could have been spent de-membraning those glorious but tricky little Mediterranean beans.

Cheers friends, and happy weekend!

The Pioneer Woman's Salmon, or The Easiest Dinner In The World

Say that thinking of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

Tonight, there were important things to get to than dinner. Building a coffee table and last week's DVR'd Scandal in particular. The fact that both of those things are happening right now, today, and not 4 months ago/one week ago respectively is bananas. The coffee table is one of the FIRST things we wanted for our new place and I've waited anxiously for months for Scandal to come back, so yeah. How do these things get away from me? WHERE ARE MY PRIORITIES?

I digress. Salmon! Oh my gosh, this is so good and so easy it's not even fair. I'm a sucker for a good love story and good food, so it was love at first read for me and the Pioneer Woman's blog. And now that she's regularly on the Food Network, I fully (irrationally? maybe?) think of her as my friend. She's so nice! She'd like me, I know it.

So, when I walked past these beautiful, huge pieces of salmon tonight at the grocery store, my mind went straight to my BFF Ree.

Her recipe for salmon (which is actually a recipe from a friend of hers) is so simple. Rub salmon filets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put the filets on a baking sheet, put it in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 400. After 25 minutes, take out your salmon and you will guaranteed have perfectly flaky, perfectly cooked salmon on your hands.

A few tips:

• Wrap your baking sheet in tin foil for minimal dish washing. I do this whenever possible, I am that lazy. With salmon, I consider this step non-optional.
• This is a great base recipe for any sort of salmon you want. In my world, pretty much nothing is getting in my oven without at least two spices on it and salt and pepper do not count. Neither does garlic. I added a lot of lemon pepper and dill to the salt and pepper and it. was. awesome. I've also used this method for miso salmon and a mustard glazed salmon, both good too!
• My salmon filets were quite possibly the biggest I'd ever seen, and were particularly thick. If that photo is not doing a good job of proving it, note that that is a DINNER PLATE, not a small plate. So, I knew they'd need a little longer to cook than 25 minutes and let them go just one extra minute, then took the pan out and tented it with foil, allowing very little air to escape. This helped the salmon keep cooking gently while the broccoli roasted.
• Speaking of broccoli roasting, it's pretty much my favorite thing ever. Pop another sheet pan (use that foil again!) in the oven with chopped broccoli, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder if you please. This should go in at the same time as the salmon, but it'll need an extra 15 minutes to get extra crispy (turn the oven up to 475 if you like it extra crispy like mine) which is coincidentally the perfect amount of time to make couscous and pour yourself a glass of wine.

The table's done! I clearly had nothing to do with this considering I just wrote nineteen paragraphs about the "easiest salmon ever." Anyway. I'd take a photo of the table but low-light photography and I are not friends yet. Someday, someday.

Olivia Pope (another good friend) awaits.

Cheers, friends!

Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta Bake with Chicken Sausage

Hey Chicago friends, remember how we didn't have a spring? I'm pretty sure this insane, ridiculous, story-book perfect fall we are having totally makes up for it. I'm head over heels for autumn, and my love affair is manifesting itself in embarassingly stereotypical ways. I'm exclusively drinking pumpkin spice lattes. I bought tiny pumpkins for my dining room table. I'm instagramming pictures of the changing leaves. I BOILED A FREAKING CINNAMON STICK. I know! I'm a tragic victim of Pinterest-fueled autumnal hype.

So, I'm just going with it. Tonight, I made a VERY seasonal dinner and it turned out prettyyyy great, so I thought I'd share. 

It was also very easy. Embrace the frozen organic veggies, my friends! Chopping up a butternut squash is one of my top ten least favorite things to do, and I'm pretty sure cleaning kale is up there too. 

And if the goat cheese gives you pause, don't worry. It melts together with everything else and there's only a hint of that sharp, tangy flavor when its all said and done. This is not an overly gooey, stringy, cheesy dish. Instead, the cream sauce just sort of sticks everything together enough so that you taste everything at once and everything on its own ALL AT THE SAME TIME. That makes no sense, you say? Blame the cinnamon fumes.

Recipe below!

Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta Bake with Chicken Sausage

Serves about 6 hungry adults

Prep time - 20 minutes
Bake time - 30  minutes

• 4 links cooked Italian chicken sausage
• 1 C onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2.5-3 C cubed cooked butternut squash (I used frozen)
• 2.5-3 C chopped kale (I used frozen)
• 1 box of whole wheat penne
• 1 Tb olive oil + more for drizzlin
• 1 C Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
• Goat cheese cream sauce, below

Goat Cheese Cream Sauce

• 4 oz goat cheese
• 15 oz container of light ricotta
• 1 C chicken stock
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 Tb salted butter
• Cracked black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp flour

To start, preheat your oven to 350, boil your (salted!) water and prepare the pasta until it's cooked to al dente. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.

While your  pasta is cooking, dice your onion and mince up the garlic, then saute it all over medium heat in the olive oil until your mixture is translucent. When the onion and garlic are cooked through, add the kale and butternut squash and mix everything together. Let it cook uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the frozen vegetables have heated through and all of the liquid has evaporated.

To prepare your sauce, combine all ingredients over medium-low heat in a saucepan and slowly whisk together until its totally combined and smooth. Allow the sauce to come to a boil and then take it off the heat from heat. (Note: if it seems VERY thin, add a bit of flour, but you want it to be more liquid-y than less so that as it bakes it stays really creamy!)

Dice the chicken sausage into small pieces.

To the pasta, add your chicken sausage and vegetable mixture. Toss it all together then add your sauce to the pot -- mix lightly, don't squish it all up!

Spray a 13x9" pan with olive oil or canola oil spray, then scoop in your pasta. Smooth it all out into an even layer then sprinkle the panko bread crumbs over the top. Drizzle olive oil lightly over the top, then cover the whole pan with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes covered, then remove the foil for an additional 10 minutes to brown the top.

Eat and enjoy!

Chicken and Tomato Skewers with Watermelon Feta Salad

Until I was about 22, I was a horrific cook. Not just not good, but certifiably bad. My mother and sister are still traumatized from the Garlic Scrambled Eggs Incident of 1999.

Happily, I can now hold my own in the kitchen -- quite nicely, if I do say so myself. I can saute, bake, pan fry, broil, simmer, roast with the best of them. I think that my love of eating food (all food) inspired me to just keep on cookin' it until eventually it started to suck a tiny bit less and every small victory inspired just enough confidence that I'd slowly became less and less freaked out by the whole production. Confidence is key! (Deep thoughts by Laura.) I'm no chef, but I've come a long way from those eggs.

But put me out on the patio with a grill, and all bets are off. I do not have enough practice under my belt (fire-proof apron?) to keep my cool when faced with a raging fire that's hellbent on eating my flank steak before I do or the patience to help along a little flame that refuses to help a chicken breast up and out of the salmonella  range.

I seriously considered chucking a drumette off the balcony the other day. #grillingproblems

So all in all, I'd say my current grilling ratio is about 50/50.

I'm pleased to report that this little dinner was solidly in the good 50%, and you can rest assured that means that it's not just good, but really, really easy. Light, summery, flavorful, and all done in about 25 minutes. Cheers!

Grilled Chicken and Tomato Skewers

1. Cut chicken into 1" cubes and marinate at least an hour in olive oil, lemon juice, herbs (I used garlic and oregano), salt and pepper
2. Prepare grill - light, clean, and use a grill spray or lightly oil the grates
3. Skewer chicken and tomatoes, alternating until each skewer is full with about an inch or two of space at the end
4. Grill until chicken is cooked through and tomatoes are slightly blistered, rotating once to ensure even char
5. Tent the chicken on a plate to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving

Watermelon and Feta Salad

1. Cube watermelon and feta and place atop arugula. 
2. Drizzle with balsamic glaze (plain balsamic would work just fine!), sprinkle with salt and pepper

Chicken and Kale Burgers

I had two cans of chicken breast on hand this weekend, and to save myself from myself and the extremely strong temptation to throw some mayonnaise in there and call it a day, I decided to get creative.

I added sauteed kale to the mix with organic breadcrumbs, an egg and seasoning, then pan fried the patties for a quick and healthy lunch with lots of flavor.

Chicken & Kale Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

• 2 10-oz. cans chicken breast


• 1 Egg


• 1/4 Cup breadcrumbs


• 1 Cup kale leaves, stems discarded


• 1 Tb worcestershire sauce


• 1 tsp chili pepper flakes


• 1 Tb lemon juice

*This may be the only recipe you'll ever see from me that does not include adding salt, but I strongly recommend against it -- the chicken is already salty! 

1. Sautee kale leaves in olive oil until soft. Alternatively, you could steam the kale. Set aside to cool.


2. Drain chicken breast, then add to a bowl with egg, breadcrumbs, and kale.


3. Use your hands to mix all of the ingredients together - there's really no way around getting in there and getting your hands dirty! A spoon won't cut it.


4. Add worcestershire sauce, chili peppers, and lemon juice.


5. Mix it all up again, then divide mixture into four sections. Form one burger out of each section, rolling it into a ball and then flattening.


6. Fry in a pan prepared with olive oil spray over low heat, flipping once until heated through and golden brown on each side.


7. Eat! This would be great on a bun with condiments and extra veggies, but was juuust fine on a plate with spicy ketchup.

I'm currently redeeming one free week of yoga as a beginning at CorePower Yoga, which means that at least for the remainder of this week, I'll be annoyingly healthy. Oh, except for that prime rib I devoured last night at Crosby's Kitchen.

On a mission to atone for last night's medium-rare and horseradish-cream covered sins, I insisted on Sunday brunch in this morning, and made an extremely healthy version of JB's standard brunch order - a Greek omelette. Frankly, this could just as easily be an omelette but I've yet to make an omelette without it breaking/burning/running so I spared myself the stress, threw it in the oven and called it a very happy day.

Making a few of these would be a great option for entertaining. They're almost embarassingly easy and totally fit into my new, yoga-enhanced healthy lifestyle! (This week.)  I've pasted in the nutritional stats below the recipe... kind of unbelievable, no?

What's up, aperture priority mode? Forgive the pointless pictures while I play with my camera. Slowly but steadily workin' towards 10,000!

Did you know there was such a thing as a tomato knife? I did not, and I have spent the past 28 years squishing tomato after tomato.

Perfectly chopped!

Breakfast feasting with AmyLu chicken sausage - the best.

Healthy Greek Frittata

Serves 4

• 4 whole eggs


• 5 egg whites


• Large handful of spinach


• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped


• 6 green onions, finely chopped


• 1/2 cup fat free feta*


• 1 tsp oregano


• black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Saute chopped tomatoes and green onions in a non-stick pan, coated with cooking spray. Add spinach and cover to wilt.


3. Transfer cooked vegetables into a pie dish prepared with cooking spray and allow to cool.


4. Whisk together eggs, egg whites, and oregano, then pour the egg mixture over cooled vegetables.


5. Sprinkle feta on top, then add pepper to taste. You don't need salt, the feta is already salty!


6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until egg is completely set.


7. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Slice and serve!

*fat free feta is the least scary fat free cheese, and personally, I don't mind it. However, you could easily substitute in reduced fat or even full fat feta here and still have a very healthy dish!

From myfitnesspal.com

*Lives are officially changed after receiving fancy new knives from our parents for Christmas - can't.stop.chopping!

Dinner dates with my sister are always the highlight of my week. We're pretty good at catching up about once a week, but in the whirlwind of the holidays, it had been too long since we caught up over some vino and cooked dinner together.

We remedied that last night but wanted to keep it relatively healthy -- new years resolutions, you know the drill. We made Asian-inspired lettuce wraps and they definitely fit the "healthy" requirement, and happily were also really, REALLY good.

Sadly, we don't have a picture of the actual wrap because I literally ripped every single piece of lettuce in half trying to make the "cups" (does someone have a trick for this?! Pinterest? Mom?) so they were morbidly less than attractive. It was somewhat like eating a salad with your hands. We wish you better luck on the wrapping front but can promise you that the filling, at least, will be out of this world.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

This makes enough for two starving people with some leftovers or four reasonable adults.

• 1  medium onion, diced


• 1 yellow or pepper, diced


• 1 Tb olive oil


• 1 lb package ground turkey or chicken


• 1 Tb five spice seasoning


• 1 Tb brown sugar


• 1/4 C reduced sodium soy sauce


• 1 Tb chili garlic paste or to taste


• Peanuts, chopped


• Cilantro, chopped


• Iceberg lettuce leaves for wrapping

1. Sautee diced onion and pepper in olive oil until soft. Drain any liquid and set aside.


2. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste, and five spice in a bowl and stir well until combined.


3. In a separate pan, brown turkey meat until cooked through.


4. Add the sauce mixture and vegetables, mixing to coat.


5. Spoon meat into lettuce cups, adding chopped peanuts and cilantro. Wrap, and feast!

Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you see that cross-section of peanut butter goodness? I am drooling as I type this.


Our supremely sweet-toothed "baby" brother's birthday was last weekend, and we decided there was no better way to send him back to school than armed with a disgusting amount of sweet treats.

College-aged metabolisms can handle the madness :)








I fear that I have set the bar pretty high for myself with the Slutty Brownies, so just any old cookie wouldn't do.


So I took the world's best chocolate chip cookie recipe, the Nestle Tollhouse classic, but only used half of the chocolate chips it called for. Then I squished a little Reeses baking square down into each spoonful and covered it with a smidge more dough.

The cookies were much bigger than usual to accommodate the Reeses so they took longer to bake, but it was worth the wait.



Without question, one of the best things I've ever made!