Kale Alfredo?!

No amount of punctuation can really express how excited I am about this recipe. This creamy, delicious alfredo sauce features an unlikely vegetable hero instead of the usual suspects of butter and cream: cauliflower!

I've got veggies for days

I was skeptical of the glowing reviews when I first read this recipe, but the cauliflower really makes a velvety sauce that satisfied my craving for creamy, buttery pasta. I would say this recipe was infinitely more successful than my attempt at cauliflower pizza, which is all the rage on Pinterest, that basically turned out like eating a weird potato-like pancake with some marinara sauce and cheese on top.

When I looked at the pictures of this dish online, it seemed a little...boring. Where is the color? The excitement? The vitamins? Since I love spinach alfredo, and we had a bunch (literally, an entire bunch) of kale left over from making my favorite pasta dish earlier in the week, I was inspired to modify the dish and add a pop of green. Behold, kale alfredo was born!

This recipe makes three generous dinner-sized servings. When I reheated the pasta, I added a little bit of water to reconstitute the sauce, as it dried out a bit upon cooling and refrigerating. You can also use a bit of milk if you prefer.

Kale Alfredo

Sauce based on Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo from Pinch of Yum
Addition of kale by necessity

Ingredients

6 oz uncooked pasta (I used Barilla Veggie Pasta)
1 small head cauliflower
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 large handfuls of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon butter
1/3 teaspoon salt
dash of nutmeg
dash of black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon heavy cream
1/3 cup starchy boiling water from pasta pot (reserve more for thinning sauce)

Instructions

1. Remove outer green leaves and woody portions, and chop the cauliflower (florets and stems) into bite-sized pieces. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over medium high heat, and add cauliflower. Cover and cook until cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes. (The longer you cook it, the easier it will be to blend, and the smoother the sauce will be.)
2. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Heat to medium, and add kale. Add about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan to prevent burning and to aid in cooking/steaming the kale. Saute until bright green and limp, about 5 minutes, adding additional water if necessary. Remove kale to plate, and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, and saute for 3-4 minutes or until soft and fragrant (but not brown).
4. As the garlic and cauliflower are cooking, bring a large pot of water to boil, and cook the pasta according to directions on package, reserving some of the starchy water to add to the sauce later.
5. Transfer cauliflower to a blender with about 1/2 cup of the broth. Add the sauteed garlic, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper and puree until very smooth, about 3 minutes, adding additional broth if needed (I used almost all of the broth I had to get it to blend smoothly). Once the mixture is moving, stream the olive oil into the blender. Add more broth or water if the mixture is too thick to move through the blender easily.
6. Wipe out the butter/garlic skillet to remove any burnt bits, but leave a bit of browned butter on the bottom of the pan to add a nutty flavor to the sauce. Transfer cauliflower puree back to the butter/garlic skillet.
7. Stir in the heavy cream, and cook over low heat. Add the starchy pasta water and the kale, and cook until warmed through. Add more pasta water, if needed, to get the consistency you prefer. Drain noodles and add them to the skillet, stirring to coat the pasta evenly. Enjoy!

Post-St. Patty's Day

Still recovering from St. Patty's Day? You are not alone, my friend. I take this mostly as an indication that I am getting old.

I don't know about you, but my St. Patrick's Day consisted of lots of Guinness and Bailey's, mostly in coffee and brownie form. Our friends Kellie and Lauren had a lovely St. Patty's day brunch with all kinds of delicious noms. Throw some Korean BBQ in there for good measure (I know, not Irish, but a delicious addition to the weekend), and my body is offended by the lack of vegetables over the past week.

(Sizzle)

Chicago does St. Patrick's Day to the extreme. I would compare it to a Penn State football weekend but spread over an entire city.

People wear kilts (isn't that Scottish?) and break out their paddleboards.

For the love of God, do NOT fall into that river.

Some people even take their fanciest cars for a spin.

 The elusive car-boat

There's a parade and bar specials out the wazoo starting at 9 AM and all that, but my favorite part of the weekend is the dyeing of the Chicago river.

Yes, the river is really THAT green.

You see it in pictures, sure, but you always think to yourself that it must be Photoshopped. I say to you, readers, that is the real, non-retouched version. Definitely my favorite!

After a weekend of too many noms, I was looking for a recipe that was healthy but still delicious and sort of decadent. I came upon this recipe from the nifty blog Iowa Girl Eats. I tweaked it a bit based on what I had and what I could get at the store. My favorite modification was the use of roasted grapes rather than fresh cherries. The juices from the grapes act as a sort of dressing when combined with the balsamic reduction, so you don't even have to add anything extra!

This recipe has a few parts to it, but don't be intimidated; they're all simple to do. I broke the recipe down by section so that it is hopefully a little easier to follow. When I made the salad, I reduced the balsamic vinegar while doing the other stuff in the oven, as this part took the longest. I would recommend putting the chicken in the oven first followed by the grapes and then the goat cheese. That way, you have nice warm goat cheese for your salad, and the chicken has had a chance to rest. Alternatively, you can bake the chicken and roast the grapes at the same time if you're in a rush then bake the goat cheese.

Almond-Crusted Goat Cheese Spinach Salad with Roasted Grapes & Chicken

Inspired by Iowa Girl Eats
Serves 2

Balsamic reduction:
1 cup balsamic vinegar

Chicken:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast (about half a pound raw)
Salt
Pepper

Grapes:
2 cups red seedless grapes, removed from stems (about 1/2 to 3/4 lb)
Olive oil flavored cooking spray or olive oil
Salt to taste (1/4 to 1/2 tsp)
Pepper to taste (1/8 to 1/4 tsp)

Goat cheese:
3 oz goat cheese
2 tbsp toasted unsalted sliced almonds (I bought the pre-toasted kind from Trader Joe's)
Olive oil for brushing

4 oz baby spinach (about 4 cups)


For the balsamic reduction:
1) Pour balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan.
2) Heat on medium heat until the vinegar thickens and is roughly the consistency of maple syrup. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Pro tip: If you have a fan above your stove, turn it on. The reducing vinegar is quite pungent and will burn your nose if you breathe it in!

For the chicken:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Place chicken in a baking pan or dish (with sides! Or you'll wind up with chicken juice all over the bottom of the oven and the fire alarm going off. Not that I know this from experience or anything...).
3) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip chicken over and repeat.
4) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the inside is no longer pink and juices run clear.

For the grapes:
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (or 400 F if you're doing this at the same time as the chicken).
2) Place grapes in a baking dish or on a baking sheet in a single layer.
3) Spray with cooking spray or drizzle lightly with olive oil. Roll grapes around by shaking the pan so that they are coated evenly with oil.
4) Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roll grapes around again to coat evenly with salt and pepper.
5) Roast in oven until grapes begin to split but before grapes begin to brown, about 15 minutes (slightly longer at 400 F), shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the grapes from sticking.

For the goat cheese:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper.
2) Cut the goat cheese into four rounds ~1/4 in thick. Place on cookie sheet.
3) Lightly brush the tops with olive oil. Sprinkle sliced almonds over the surface of the goat cheese, pressing lightly so the nuts stick to the cheese.
4) Bake 5-7 minutes or until soft and warm.

Assembly!
1) Divide baby spinach between two plates.
2) Top with grapes, chicken, and goat cheese.
3) Drizzle with balsamic reduction and sprinkle with additional almonds if desired.
4) Enjoy!

Weddings and Kale & Quinoa Cakes

Happy November, friends! Hope the new month is treating you well so far.

I've been busy the past few weeks with school, work, and travel in addition to some cooking/baking. Andy and I traveled to PA last weekend for the wedding of Jake, our good friend from college. Andy was a groomsman, and I just got to sit and enjoy the ride. It was really great to see some of our friends from college as well as to meet the families of both Jake and his new wife(!) Audrey. They seem like a great match for each other.

I also loved to have a chance to get back to my home state for a few days. There is nothing better than Pennsylvania in the fall. For real. Illinois just doesn't have the same rolling-hills-forested-area beauty that Pennsylvania does. It made me happy just to be around it for a short time.

In addition to all the usual delicious wedding things, there was something especially unique here: cookies. THOUSANDS of cookies. If you're not familiar with the tradition of a cookie table, you're not alone. It's kind of like the phrase "firehall wedding reception." You don't realize that not everyone knows what this is until you say it in mixed company, and people look at you like you have three heads. Anyway, every time I walked by the table there were new types of cookies appearing. Maybe there will be some cookies in the future on S&C as a result. :)

In order to recover from post-wedding gorging, I've decided that I need to cook more healthy things this week. I was in Whole Foods last week and bought some red quinoa on a whim. I've cooked with quinoa before, but never the red variety. Why is a grain that has been around for thousands of years all of a sudden super popular? Not that I'm arguing with deliciousness...

I served the cakes with the "Hot Pepper Mustard" that we received as a favor at Jake and Audrey's wedding. It was sort of like a spicy version of honey mustard, and it went really well with the cakes. Such a cute idea!

Kale and Quinoa Cakes

From Joy the Baker (recipe adapted from Super Natural Every Day)

1 1/2 cups raw quinoa
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 bunch (about 3 cups) chopped dino kale
splash of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup coarsely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes (I did half and half)
1 tablespoon water (I used a little less)
2 tablespoon olive oil (or cooking spray) for frying, add a bit more as necessary
lemon wedges, olives or capers, spicy mustard, and greens for serving

Place dry quinoa in a fine mesh strainer.  Wash under cool water for a few minutes.  Quinoa needs to be rinsed or it tastes dirty.

In a medium saucepan place rinsed quinoa, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Cover, decrease the heat, and simmer for about 25 t0 30 minutes, until the quinoa is tender.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  We’ll need about 3 cups of cooked quinoa for the recipe.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs and set aside.

In a medium sauté man, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add kale and toss until just slightly wilted, about 1 minutes.  Remove from heat and add a splash of vinegar.  Place kale mixture in a large bowl with prepared quinoa.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  You can speed up this process in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Add cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, break crumbs, salt, and pepper.  Add beaten eggs and stir until all of the quinoa mixture is moistened.  Add water to thoroughly moisten mixture.  Quinoa should be slightly wet so it doesn’t dry out during cooking.

Scoop out mixture by the 2 tablespoonful.  (I used a small ice cream scoop to scoop the mixture right into the hot pan.)  Use clean, moist fingers to form into a patty.  Create as many patties as you’d like.  (Rinse your hands after every few patties… it makes making patties easier.)

In a large skillet over medium low heat, heat olive oil.  If you pan is large enough, add four to six patties to the hot pan.  You’ll need a bit of room to successfully flip them.

Cook on each side until beautifully browned, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side.  Low heat helps the quinoa cakes cook slowly. Brown on each side then remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Serve warm with a lemon wedge, mustard, fresh spinach, and salty capers.  It’s like a deconstructed salad.  Serve them any way you’d like. Makes about two dozen small cakes.

Refried Bean, Corn, and Cheese Quesadillas

Now that we've FINALLY unpacked the kitchen stuff (mostly...sort of...sufficiently), Andy and I have finally started to cook things. Huzzah! Hopefully, Science and Cupcakes will include a little more cupcakes and a little less science the coming weeks.

This recipe is one of my favorite quick things to make when we don't want to get take out and don't feel like putting tons of effort into dinner. It includes my favorite cooking technique of all: opening up packages of things and dumping them into a bowl. The other nice thing about this recipe is that it is very flexible. Want to add cayenne pepper? Go for it. Cilanto? Sure! It works well with whatever spices you have on hand. Include the cumin, but everything else is up to you.

Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Refried Bean, Corn, and Cheese Quesadillas

Makes approx. 6 quesadillas
Adapted from Cooking Light

12 yellow corn tortillas
1 - 16 oz can fat free refried beans
1/2 cup frozen corn (do not thaw)
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Optional additions:
Green onions
Cilantro
Jalapeno peppers
Cayenne pepper
Etc.

In a small bowl, combine refried beans, corn, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Mix well.

Coat a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Warm a corn tortilla on each side. Remove from pan. Place another corn tortilla in the pan to warm while compiling the quesadilla.

Spread first tortilla with 1/4 - 1/3 cup bean mixture. Sprinkle with ~1 tbsp shredded cheese. Place second warmed tortilla on top of filling to complete the quesadilla.

Return to pan and cook on both sides until the cheese is melted and tortillas are slightly brown. Enjoy!

(Source)

The Kale Chronicles

My favorite part about summer is the plethora of unique fresh veggies that appear at the grocery store and farmer's market. Sure, I love the usual suspects like carrots and peppers, but part of the fun of cooking is being inspired by what is in season at any given moment. One class of veggies that doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves is the leafy-greens family. This includes things such as Swiss chard, collard greens (a current obsession when I eat Ethiopian food), and my personal favorite, kale.

Source

I love, love, love kale. It has a strong enough flavor to stand on its own, but it is versatile enough that it blends in with whatever flavors you desire.

When looking at what to make for dinner, I try to adhere to the cook-once-eat-all-week mantra. This pasta dish stores and reheats really well, so you can nom all week from one easy night of cooking. I've adapted this meal from a WeightWatchers recipe. I like to use more kale than the original because as I said, I really like kale, and the extra greens make it more satisfying in my opinion. You really can't go wrong with whatever kind of sausage you use, and you could probably even use other greens like broccoli rabe, chard, or even asparagus if you can't find kale.


I went a little kale-crazy, and I wound up buying two bunches, which is kind of a lot of volume for one person. Thus, I needed to find another recipe to make with my limited ingredients. The idea for kale chips was born!

The term "chip" in relation to kale is kind of a misnomer. They're really more of a crisp than a chip. They're not quite hearty enough to survive a salsa or a dip, but they're light and delicious and perfect for a savory, crispy food craving!

A few notes on kale chip prep: make sure your kale is REALLY dry. Otherwise, it won't crisp up evenly, and you'll have some chips that are overcooked and some that are still floppy. Also, as I found out, the kale chips tend to get soggy if you don't consume them immediately (but a little moisture didn't deter me from eating them!). Enjoy them fresh out of the oven. Plus, they're really yummy when they're still warm.

Cheers!

Pasta with Sausage and Kale
Adapted from WeightWatchers.com recipe "Rigatoni with Sausage and Kale"

2 cups uncooked pasta (I like to use fun shapes like bowties or curly pasta that holds the kale better)
8 oz uncooked bulk turkey or chicken sausage, spicy (I've used spicy turkey sausage and spicy chicken parmesan cheese sausage...both were great!)
1 bunch uncooked kale, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup canned fat free, low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up sausage as it cooks, about 3 minutes. Add kale a handful at a time. Cook, stirring frequently, until limp, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add broth to skillet and scrape up browned bits on bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon; season with salt and pepper. Cover skillet and reduce heat to low; cook until kale is tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in rigatoni; heat through.

Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons of cheese before serving.
Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baked Parmesan Kale Chips
Modified from Skinnytaste

1 bunch kale
cooking spray (I used canola, but olive oil would work well, too)
sea salt
black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray large baking sheets with cooking spray.

Wash and thoroughly dry kale. Remove any thick stems, and tear kale into bite sized pieces.

Place kale pieces on baking sheets in a single layer. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for ~10 minutes, moving the kale around as it shrinks and gets crispy.

Remove from oven, top with cheese, and bake for another ~5 minutes until cheese begins to melt, edges are crisp, and some kale begins to get brown around the edges. Enjoy!

Albuquerque!

Hi, Science and Cupcakes fans!

I apologize for the almost month-long pause in blog updates. With the quarter wrapping up, my last class EVER ending(!), and trying to fit a quarter's worth of research into two weeks, I've been a little scattered. I know I'm in trouble when I write stuff down on Post-it notes so I don't forget about it and then I lose the Post-it notes. Woof.

In trying to fit all of the research in to the past two weeks, I achieved what I thought was impossible. I got a full fuel cell fabricated with my new anode material having never made one of this chemistry before. Even though it was super-stressful, I am happy that I was able to get something testable finished before I left! Hoorah!

Yesterday, I arrived in Albuquerque, NM where I'll be staying for the next five weeks while working at Sandia National Laboratories. After a bit of a snafu with my initial lodging conditions, I am getting settled in to an extended stay hotel which has a full kitchen (including a DISHWASHER ahhh). I'm living in what is known as the Uptown section of ABQ, and the area around me is basically just a series of malls. Also, everyone I talked to told me I was within walking distance of a Trader Joe's. I'm wondering if it's a new thing around here considering how excited everyone was about it. I'll admit it's pretty convenient and delicious.

Being in a new city is kind of disorienting, but I was told that the way to figure out where you are is to look for the mountains. The mountains are always to the east. This reminded me of how people always look for the lake in Chicago. Except the mountains are much easier to find.

One thing that people weren't joking about is that it is HOT here. I don't care how dry the heat is: if it's 96 degrees (which it was today), it is still 96 degrees. It's a bit more tolerable, maybe. But still really toasty. Albuquerque also is elevated at 5500 ft, so you also lose a good amount of protective atmosphere in your sun exposure. I bought a huge thing of SPF 50 sunscreen, which I will be liberally applying daily, especially because I'll be biking part of the way to work. I went out for a walk today and was very glad that I had sunscreened-up before I departed. (Side note: I saw a little lizard running around! So much more interesting than the Midwest.) Another side effect of the altitude is that I get winded doing just about anything right now. Even walking up stairs is hard. I'm sure I'll adjust to the altitude in time.

I'm nervous and excited and scared about this relocation all at the same time. It's fun to discover a new area, especially one I've never been close to before. It's also kind of scary to be plopped in a new location not knowing many people. I'm sure that once I get into a schedule, I'll be right as rain. Which doesn't happen here. :)

As the narrative of ABQ appears in the weeks to come, I'll blog about my discoveries and adventures. I already miss everyone back in Illinois, so keep me posted on your lives. :) Cheers!

Loose Ends

I had a few culinary adventures in the preceding weeks before I left, which I haven't gotten a chance to blog about yet! I'm really excited about making Homemade Larabars. I love these bars made of raw ingredients like dates and almonds, but I find that the $2.00 a bar price tag is a little steep for everyday consumption. Costco sells dates in gigantic packages, which is pretty perfect for mass producing the bars. And you can control exactly what goes into them. So far, I've made the cherry pie and key lime pie flavors, and I hope to branch out to more kinds soon! All the recipes I've done so far have yielded three to four bars.

Cherry pie bars before...

Cherry pie bars after! 

I'm always looking for new things to make for weekend breakfasts, and my latest endeavour was these super-moist banana breakfast donuts, which I actually made into muffins because I don't have a donut pan. These come from a vegan blog, but can easily be made non-vegan, too. I drizzled a simple glaze made with milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla on top for some added texture and flavor. Yum!

Clusters of muffins! You can even see the piece of banana in the bottom muffin.

Pro tip: the glaze tends to soak into the muffin by the next day or two, so revive some of the sugary goodness by placing the muffin under the broiler. The top of the muffin gets sweet and crunchy, which gives it a whole new texture.

Yummmmm

In my continuing obsession with Skinnytaste, Andy and I made these Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana for dinner. I love, love, love spinach and will really look for any excuse to add some to my diet. This dish is healthy and very satisfying.

Before cheese...

After cheese!

We even decided to be all fancy-like with a side salad, whole wheat pasta, and a glass of wine. Om nom nom.

A complete and delicious meal.

I have a stove and a microwave but no oven in the place I'm staying, so I'm going to have to get creative with my baking endeavors to supplement my diet of microwavable Trader Joe's entrees. Maybe some stovetop-centered recipes will be appearing in the future, hmmmm? Suggestions are welcome!

Dillo Day (er, Memorial Day) Weekend

Hello, friends! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! It was mad hot here in Chicagoland on Sunday and Monday. I went into work yesterday, but mainly I did so for the air conditioning. I told this to my advisor, who thought it was hilarious. I booked my SEM time smack in the middle of the afternoon so that I could hang out in the frigid EPIC microscope rooms. Best idea ever.

In addition to Memorial Day, it was also the infamous Dillo Day on Northwestern's campus this past Saturday. I still don't quite understand the origin of Dillo Day, even though I've read the Wikipedia article on it, and thus, clearly, I should know all about it. Anyway, it is basically an excuse for the undergrads to drink a lot and be rowdy. The undergrads are entertaining, but I think my favorite moment of the observation of the rowdiness was the entrepreneurial kids who decided to open a lemonade stand on the street leading to campus to catch all of the inebriated, dehydrated undergrads en route to the Lakefill. They even had Red Bull and water as the day went on. These kids are going to make it big one day. I look forward to their future business ventures.

The Dillo Day concert lineup was a little unimpressive this year. We tried to go see Cold War Kids, but the storminess of the morning had caused quite a tizzy, meaning that the first act hadn't played. Thus, they hadn't opened the gate, and the line was absurd, so we decided to come back and start up the grill a little bit earlier than planned. I'll never argue with earlier grilling.

We finally make it to the Lakefill later in the day to see some of Reel Big Fish's set. They were a bit aged but still put on a nice show. Having these guys in the lineup was definitely more for the grad students than the undergrads. Pretty sure some of them weren't born yet when these guys were popular.

Reel Big Fish playing for a sea of undergrads (see what I did there? Bam.)

After weeks of walking by I Dream of Sweets on my way to campus, I FINALLY got my hands on the famed Dillo Day cupcake that I had mentioned a few posts ago on my way back from the concert. It got a little squashed, but look at the cute chocolate frosting armadillo! Eeee! So adorable. The cake was very caramel-y (and as my friend Kayla mentioned, smelled kind of like maple syrup, in a good way) and moist. Thumbs up!

Dillo Day cupcake! Om nom nom.

Overall, I did a good bit of baking/cooking this weekend. Andy had reign over the grill and made some delicious grilled pineapple (thanks to a stroke of genius by our friend Adam), brats, burgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs. I made baked oatmeal with blueberries and bananas for breakfast along with some chocolate chip cupcakes. The oatmeal was awesome, not too tricky, and pretty good for you, so it's a definitely make again recipe. I bet it would be awesome with other berries, too! For later in the day, I made this taco dip, which I made again on Sunday for another BBQ (which was on the roof of a 43 story building in Lincoln Park. Amazing views!). One can never have too much taco dip. Mwahaha. Also, in preparation for breakfast and burgers, we bought four pounds of bacon at Costco, cooked one pound, had another pound of bacon brought to our apartment by Kayla. Meaning that we still have three pounds of bacon left at our apartment. Problem? I think not. Awesome? Definitely. 

While I've had a lot of kitchen success lately, I sadly had a bit of a snafu with a cupcake experiment, too. Andy's mom had given me a bunch of mini ice cream cones left over from the graduation at Case last weekend. I thought, hmm, what if I made cupcakes...but made them INSIDE the ice cream cones?! I was not the only one on the internet who had thought of this, apparently, as there are myriad pages devoted to this very topic. However, as you can sort of see in the picture, some of the cupcakes rose nicely while most of them kind of sunk back into the cone, uncooked. I tried baking them longer, baking them again, baking them at a higher temperature but to no avail. I used Betty Crocker yellow cake with pudding in the batter. Maybe I needed the cake mix without the pudding? Or maybe I'll make my own next time? Meh, I guess you can't win them all. I'll definitely try it again, though. The idea is too cute!

They had such potential. 

Inspired by another Costco purchase of medjool dates, I'm planning on experimenting with making my own homemade Larabars this week. I love, love, love these things and would eat them all the time when I worked at Whole Foods Market, but the habit can get kind of pricey after awhile. Thus, I decided to get creative. I'll report back on my findings in the next post or two!

Hopefully, the weather will cool off was the week progresses. I'll take wearing a sweatshirt inside to sweating buckets outside any day. Cheers until next time!

Weekend in Cleveland and Italian Quinoa

Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you had a chance to get out an enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having over the past few days in the Midwest and on the East Coast. It's almost like it's spring or summer or something.

Cleveland

This past weekend to continue with my month of perpetual travel, Andy and I visited Cleveland to see his sister Robin graduate from Case Western Reserve University. We spent six and a half hours in the car each way to spend 24 hours at our destination. Woof. Needless to say, it was a tiring trip.

I have to say, I kind of like Cleveland. It's trying so hard to get rid of the stigma of being Cleveland and the still fresh memories of LeBron James. The area around Case is really nice and urban in a friendly way. Also, they have Yuengling there, which we purchased on our way out of the city. So yes. Two points for Cleveland! If I haven't made you want to go there, maybe this video or this video will.

Case's commencement speaker this year was Paul Buchheit. Even if that name doesn't ring a bell, you definitely know this guy's work. Paul invented Gmail (which I currently have open in more than one window as we speak) as well as AdSense, that nifty little program that reads your mind to anticipate what you want to buy on the internet and tailors your ads to meet your needs. However, I was a little underwhelmed by the performance. Although he claimed to have thought about this speech for several months, he said that he decided he would rather discover the speech with his audience than write down trite words on paper. So it was kind of disorganized. At least I can say that I saw the Gmail guy speak?

Robin's apartment was located in the Little Italy section of the city (also a very nifty area of Cleveland) adjacent to the campus. While the masses were descending on the commencement to grab seats, Andy and I grabbed a cinnamon bun and a cup of coffee at Presti's Bakery. It was a really cute local place, and it was great to have a moment to relax on a generally busy graduation weekend.

Andy's sister and mom really like to bake, and they made these adorable graduation cookies. They all had different names of her friends who were graduating or encouraging sayings like the one below. I aim to emulate these skills. So cute!

The sprinkles are even in Case Western's colors. Awesome!

On our way back to Evanston, we drove through downtown Chicago because all of the ruckus being caused by the NATO summit meant that Lake Shore Drive was closed off. We discovered that LSD was closed on our way out of the city when we ran into a barricade of SNOWPLOWS which were blocking the road. Chicago has so many, so at least they found a use for them in the off-season?

In an attempt to get off of I-90/94, we drove up Michigan Ave and found these guys hanging out.

Riot police!

I asked Andy if it would be tacky if I took pictures of the police. He said yes, but I took them anyway. They'll never know it was me. Mwahaha. If you wanted to commit a crime in Chicago anywhere but downtown, these two days would have been your opportunity. Apparently, all of the police were on this street. Further down, more snowplow barricades were discovered. Important personage need their space.

The off-season use of Chicago's snowplows

Evanston

After an eventful weekend, I unfortunately had to come back to reality. Today in my Analytical Electron Microscopy class, I took my last exam EVER. Remember that class I almost didn't go to in the beginning of the quarter because I forgot that I was taking a class? Yup, that's the one. It's such a strange feeling but also a relief to not have exams hanging over my head anymore. Woooo! Now I get to do research all the time. Hooray?

To reward myself for getting through my last exam, I decided to take time off tonight and do some cooking. I've been craving quinoa (pronounced keen-WAH) and am getting bored with sandwiches, so I decided to make some yummy lunches for the rest of the week. If you aren't familiar with this grain, it's kind of like a cross between rice and cous-cous but with tons of protein. More on quinoa here from Wikipedia. I bought it in bulk at Whole Foods, so it was super cheap. The only caveat is that you have to wash it yourself to remove the bitter outer coating on the grain. No big deal to save lots of monies!

Quinoa in its bulk form

After trolling around the interwebs, I decided on an Italian dish based on the fact that we had a lot of ingredients in our pantry, and I needed to make some use of my basil plant. It took it pretty well, I think.

Naked basil plant

I also made two batches of pesto, which I froze into individual portions in an ice cube tray. I make the pesto with everything but the cheese and add that when I thaw it. It doesn't get all weird that way and tastes fresh for a longer time. Also, I put a little extra olive oil on top of each cube to prevent the basil from turning black and funky. Brilliant!

To make life easier, I use those takeout containers that soup comes in when you order Chinese food to portion out lunches for the week. This way, I have no excuse not to pack my lunch because all I have to do is grab it and go.

Boom! Lunch!

 I also have the basil in a separate bag so I can just grab that, too!

Bag of non-suspicious green herbs

I hope you give quinoa a try and enjoy it as much as I do!

 So looking forward to nomming this tomorrow!

Italian-Style Quinoa

Makes four servings of ~1 cup each

1 cup uncooked quinoa, washed
1 can fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth (about 2 cups)
2 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water to soften and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1-2 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp lemon juice
fresh basil, chopped

Place quinoa, chicken broth, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 18-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a skillet until they become fragrant and golden. Roughly chop the pine nuts.

Once quinoa is done cooking, add sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, pine nuts, garlic, and spices. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over the mixture and stir to combine. Add basil to quinoa just before eating to maintain freshness. Enjoy!

Pinata Results and Fun Things

Pinata Cookie Outcome

Hello, friends! I wanted to bring some closure to the weekend extravaganza of cooking and baking with the results of the pinata cookies. I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath for the results. Because I was a little uncertain about the dough in the original recipe, I decided to use a basic sugar cookie recipe for my cookies instead. Simple and makes 60(!) cookies. It gave me about 20 pinata cookies with a few spare cookies in case of breakage.

The pinata cookies became a bit more of an agglomeration of every holiday cookies. In theory, they are still true to the spirit of the pinata. Holiday #1 - Cinco de Mayo. However, they became a bit more conceptually abstract as the process progressed. As I mentioned before, I couldn't find mini M&M's anywhere (has anyone found them since?), so instead, I decided to use what we had in the pantry: red and green M&M's. Holiday #2 - Christmas.

Over the years, I've inherited a bunch of baking supplies from my grandma and have thus accumulated a LOT of cookie cutters. We're talking bags upon bags of cookies cutters. Among the bags, I discovered that I had concentric heart-shaped cookie cutters and decided to use these as the inspiration for my shapes. Holiday #3 - Valentine's Day. It also means that unlike in the original recipe, you can cut out all of your shapes before you bake and can take advantage of the symmetry of the cookies during assembly. Nice!

Heart-shaped cookie cutters

When the cookies were hot from the oven, I simply cut out a smaller middle heart in every third cookie. Each cookie requires a sandwich of three individual cookies. The side benefit of this procedure is a bunch of heart-shaped little cookies in addition to your big cookies!

Bonus cookies!

The cookies were assembled using a powdered sugar and milk "glue" that I applied between the layers. The middle cookie has the hole in it and contains the M&M pinata filling.

Almost too much cookie to handle

I ran out of time to make the snazzy stripes out of dough a la pinata, so I simply decided to add some visual interest with a pink, purple, and white powdered sugar/milk drizzle. It gave the cookies a nice modern look and a little extra sweetness. Ta da!

I would definitely attempt these cookies again with different shapes, colors, and fillings. I feel like they would be really fun additions to any summer party!

Fun Things

1. I love baseball. There's nothing quite like a cool summer evening in a ballpark with friends, a hot dog, and a beer. My department's graduate student organization hosted a baseball game this past Monday at Wrigley Field. Tickets were free from my department, and we had a bunch of people come out. It was a great time! AND the Cubs actually won! I've been to three Cubs games since moving to Chicago, and this is the first one I've been to where the Cubs were victorious. Also, the Cubs were running all kinds of promotions, so I was able to score a free Qdoba burrito and a free Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. I basically got paid to go to this game. Awesome!
   
2. College and grad school have made me regress to my earlier days. In college, I resumed the long-forgotten tradition of napping. In grad school, I've begun eating Lunchables again. This made me wonder: whatever happened to peanut butter and celery? It's simple, classic, and not too unhealthy. Thus, in order to embrace my youth again, I made myself ants on a log for a snack from the celery I had left over from the bolognese sauce a week or two ago. However, since I'm not too keen on raisins, I used dried cranberries. I call it - fire ants on a log. The first grader inside me was jumping for joy.

I'll be updating with more research-y things in the coming days, but I hope you've gotten some inspiration from these baking and cooking ideas. Cheers until next time!

Ole!

Happy weekend, friends! I hope everyone had a great Saturday/Derby Day/Cinco de Mayo. By some miracle, I didn't have to write a lab report for my microscopy class this week, and thus, I had a bit more time on my hands this weekend to devote to cooking and baking with pretty yummy results.

Nutella was on sale at Dominick's this past week, so I did what any girl who was in possession of a jar of Nutella would do - I made me some crepes. This was my first crepe making experience, and they are super-easy and super-yummy. I made a basic crepe and added ~1/4 tsp of vanilla because I wanted it to be dessert-y but still kind of breakfast-y to complement the sweet filling. Spread the crepe with Nutella, top with some banana slices, and enjoy! The batter keeps well in the fridge, so I'm going to experiment with berry-filled crepes tomorrow morning. Nom!

Eating Nutella directly out of the jar is also an acceptable form of consumption. Source

Starting out the day with a French dish is probably somewhat sacrilegious on Cinco de Mayo, so I felt obligated to make something Mexican-y (I'm really enjoying the -y in this post. My apologies to any English majors reading this). The warmer temperatures of last week had me thinking of warm-weather meals. Warm weather makes me think of California, which made me think of surfing, which made me think of fish, which lead me to troll the interwebs for a good fish taco recipe. Before you ask, no, I don't really have a good explanation for that train of thought. Just go with it.

A lot of recipes either deep fry the heck out of the fish or use TONS of mayo, both of which make my arteries quiver in fear. This one from Alton Brown was simple, moderately healthy, and AWESOME. I didn't bother with the whole making-your-own-tortilla (that's what the grocery store is for) or the crema thing (it takes 24 hours just to sit there? I'm too impatient for that). Also, I substituted lime juice for the liquor. Andy and I paired our tacos with some homemade guacamole and Newman's Own salsa with my current favorite tortilla chips. Excellent.

"You need some tacos, my friend." Source

Fun fact: the internet told me that if you let your fish marinate in an acidic substance (like lime juice) for more than 30 minutes, the proteins in the fish become denatured, and you have a mess of mushy fish instead of flaky filets of fish. So don't do that. A 15-20 minute swim in the marinade should be just enough for your fish. I used tilapia, which is a really good fish for people who normally don't like fish (like me).

Keeping with the Cinco de Mayo theme, I had seen this recipe for pinata cookies(!) earlier in the week. My friend Elizabeth made these cookies without the filling, and they turned out really cute. However, after scouring every aisle of Dominick's and Walgreens, it seems that mini M&Ms have ceased to exist. If anyone can tell me their whereabouts, let me know ASAP! For my pinatas, I'm going to go with a more basic sugar cookie recipe and heart-shaped pinatas because I am not in possession of a burro shaped cookie cutter. I'll report back on my findings! Until then, enjoy the rest of the weekend!


Cupcake sighting: I Dream of Sweets has a sign up for a Dillo Day cupcake consisting of a caramel cake, green raspberry frosting, and a chocolate 'dillo on top. Must. Try. This. Cupcake.

Current Obsessions

It's been a busy week here at Science and Cupcakes, so in the spirit of keeping things current, I thought I would try to smoosh all the goings on of the past week or two into one giant list of the things currently occupying space in my brain other than research. Brevity is the soul of wit. Or something.

1. Wisconsin

Andy and I took a really awesome trip to Door County, WI to do some wine tasting, hiking, and general relaxing to celebrate our anniversary. Door County is a neat little place that's sort of part Cape Cod, part New Hampshire, and part Midwest farming town. We made a few stops along the way like the Miller brewery in Milwaukee (free samples wooo!) and Lambeau Field  in Green Bay (cheeseheads wooo!). Basically, I didn't want to come back. I've been left with a small obsession with America's Dairyland. Cheese, beer, bratwursts, wine, and football? Awesome. 

Bonus sub-obsession: cheese curds

I don't know where these have been all my life, but now I am a cheese curd convert. Like mozzarella sticks but lighter. Yum! I need to find a good place in the Chicagoland area for these, stat. 

2. Trader Joe's

Having worked at Whole Foods Market for four years during high school and college, I was a little bit skeptical when Trader Joe's moved into my hometown. However, I have come to love, love, love Trader Joe's. Mandarin orange chicken? Premade pizza dough? Hummus?! AND I just discovered that they make PORK BUNS, too? Sign me up.

Note: Since I couldn't find the links on Trader Joe's website, the links are from one of my favorite food blogs, What's Good at Trader Joe's? Check it out if you want to drool over delicious things at Trader Joe's. 

3. Skinnytaste

I've been doing WeightWatchers for the past six months or so, and let me tell you, sometimes finding yummy recipes can be sort of difficult. Especially when I get home from work at 7 PM and don't really feel like moving anymore. Enter Skinnytaste, a blog that seems to have read my mind. Andy and I made this Bolognese sauce yesterday, which was absolutely fabulous. We've also made these spinach meatballs as well as our entire Super Bowl spread (potato skins, mozzarella sticks, and chicken nuggets, oh my!) from here. It's a really great website, even if you're not doing WW and just love tasty things that don't make you slip into a food coma after you eat them. NOM.

4. This video

Having spent a good part of this past weekend exploring the greater Lakeview area, this video speaks to me in a way others cannot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBXrTnw3oEc&noredirect=1

As one of my labmates pointed out, this video also conjures up images of a better time in another city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg

EDIT: Let it be known that KYLE was the one who showed me this video. :)

S'more Oatmeal

Lately, I've been kind of stuck in a breakfast rut. This statement unto itself makes me very sad because breakfast/brunch is by far my favorite meal of the day. However, when I get busy with school and such, cereal, even with its myriad varieties, can only take me so far. I recently discovered the joy of Thomas' Whole Wheat Mini Bagels, which are delicious topped with some Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I like the 1/3 less fat stuff) and strawberries. But still I yearned for more.

This lazy Saturday morning, I decided to venture into the forgotten territory of oatmeal, cold cereal's less flashy older brother. A warm, hearty breakfast is just what I needed on this gloomy Chicagoland day. Normally, I'm a brown sugar and dried fruit sort of gal, but I was feeling adventurous and, inspired by the random ingredients I had in the pantry, came up with this little number: s'more oatmeal! Great idea, or the greatest idea?

The amounts in the recipe below make one hearty serving of ~1 cup prepared oats. It's super simple and wildly delicious. Cheers!

S'more Oatmeal

Oats

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup water

1/8 - 1/4 tsp salt (depending on your taste)

Topping

1 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 tbsp light brown sugar (optional, but good if you like it really sweet)

1 sheet (4 crackers) graham crackers (I had some Honey Maid Gingerbread graham crackers left over from the post-holiday season - nom!)

10 mini marshmallows

Instructions

In a two cup microwave-safe bowl, combine oats, water, and salt. Microwave on medium (50%) power for 5-6 minutes. Stir well after heating.

Mix chocolate chips (and brown sugar, if desired) into the cooked oatmeal, giving the chips a chance to melt and become gooey. Crumble the graham crackers on top of the oatmeal, and top with mini marshmallows. Garnish with a squirt of light whipped cream, if desired.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Er, day after Easter now, I guess. Or as I like to call it "50% off Cadbury Eggs Day!" Due to an overabundance of science, there haven't been too many kitchen-endeavors in the Science & Cupcakes world, although I made these Thin Mint Cookie Knockoffs for coffee hour a few weeks ago. To compensate, Andy and I set out to do Easter up in style. We made an orange marmalade/brown sugar glazed ham, asparagus with a drizzle of lemon and olive oil, roasted potatoes, onions, and peppers with rosemary and thyme, and biscuits. Helllllloooo leftovers for the rest of the week.  Also, in the true spirit of Easter, we made Jello Jigglers Eggs thanks to a present from the Easter Bunny. Raspberry Jello - a classic!

Hopefully, in the weeks to come, I'll be revving up my baking and will have lots of new recipes to share. I'm always looking for suggestions!

Cheers!

Mine were sort of like this, except they were bunny-and chick-shaped. So really, not like this at all. (Source)