Hi! Welcome to “good mood food” from Kale Me Maybe’s Carina Wolff. If you’ve made it here and aren’t yet a subscriber, come join! You can expect recipes, musings, and faves in your inbox every Wednesday! Paid subscribers get even more on Fridays — right now I’m doing a 30-minute budget meal series! Learn more about the paid tier of my newsletter here. You can also try a week for free!

Soo…I have some big news! I’m pregnant! We’re having a baby boy this summer. AHHH. It still doesn’t really feel real, other than the fact that I hate food most days.

I’ll definitely go into more of the details later, but this was a result of our second IVF transfer. It’s seriously surreal to finally be pregnant, and although I am SO ecstatic and excited, I am definitely working through a lot of the lingering anxiety of going through infertility and pregnancy loss. It gets better with each day, but sometimes it’s hard to believe that things can go right when you’re so used to them going wrong. That being said, my mental state is generally really good — I feel so grateful to be on the other side of this grueling journey.

My physical state on the other hand… It hasn’t been horrible, but I have been living in a constant state of nausea for a few months. I am in my second trimester now, but I’m still not fully out of the icky feeling and food aversions. As you can imagine, creating recipes has been HARD. That’s been the biggest struggle, but again, I’m just so, so incredibly grateful to be here.

Definitely will go into more details in the coming weeks! xo

I don’t tend to wear a lot of bright colors, but this striped sweater from Sezane caught my eye, and I decided it was time to branch out of my comfort zone. It’s inspiring to be more playful in my attire, and of course, gotta love the natural fibers — this one is made from mohair and wool.

I didn’t realize boxed wine could be so chic or tasty until Grant and I discovered Juliet wine. Now, obviously since I am pregnant, I am not drinking, but I did try a sip of Grant’s glass, since he loved it so much. Juliet is such an interesting concept — it’s a sustainable wine that’s low intervention, and the crazy thing is, the wine lasts for 4 weeks after opening! Each box is also the equivalent of two bottles of wine. Really into this concept. #ad

Kettle and Fire is my favorite bone broth brand, and they just came out with a Venison Bone Broth that they sent my way. I’m not one to sip on bone broths often, as I use them mostly in cooking or hot chocolate, but I LOVED the flavor of this one — it’s very mild and nourishing. And bone broth has been very helpful when my appetite has been bla.

Is this a bowl? Is it a salad? What do I call it? I don’t know — NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS A LABEL. Just kidding, all I do know is that I am dreaming about these feta potatoes and need them again immediately.

This dish is actually pretty simple — it’s just a bed of arugula with black lentils, roasted potatoes and feta, and a Greek-ish salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and parsley. On my Instagram story, I wrote “no olives, obviously,” and people were confused. Look, I have nothing against olives, but I absolutely fucking hate them 🙂

No, I’m sad though. I want to love olives, I really do, but they just taste disgusting to me now matter how hard I try. It’s the only food I can’t eat, and it’s devastating. I swear, there has to be an olive gene like there is a cilantro gene. Anyway, I digress.

This bowl/salad/whatever is topped with a simple lemon oregano vinaigrette, and it’s both filling and delicious.

• 24 oz small gold potatoes, chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup uncooked black lentils

• 1 1/2 cups chopped cherry or grape tomatoes

• 1 1/2 cups chopped Persian cucumbers

• 1/2 small/medium red onion, chopped

• 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves, stems removed

• 7 oz feta, cut into cubes and lightly crumbled with your hands

• 2 tbsp roughly chopped dill

• 4 heaping cups arugula

• Juice of 3 lemons

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp honey

• Pinch of crushed red pepper

• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Add potatoes to a medium baking dish along with the garlic and olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt, and toss together. Bake for 25-30 minutes until potatoes are golden and are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

2. While potatoes are roasting, prepare your lentils according to package. I like to submerge mine in water and boil until they’re ready, about 20 minutes. Drain when finished.

3. Prepare the Greek salad by mixing together chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and parsley leaves, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl.

4. Prepare the dressing by whisking together ingredients in a small bowl or jar.

5. When potatoes are ready, let cool for 5-10 minutes, and then mix in the feta and dill.

6. Divide the arugula into 4 bowls, and top with your cooked lentils, feta potatoes, and Greek salad. Drizzle on the lemon dressing, and enjoy! Can be eaten warm, room temp, or cold!

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for a coconut rice bowl with meatballs and scallion sauce! I just love dousing everything with scallions — it makes everything better. And my favorite hack for meatballs has been using citrus, which makes them really light and airy!

Just a reminder that anytime you become a paid subscriber, you get access to ALL of the past recipes in the archive. You can always do a free 7-day trial as well!