Beet & Citrus Pasta Salad

& a few rants (plus 6 months of breastfeeding!)

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 week! Paid subscribers get even more on Saturdays — 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!

CATCH UP!

You know what I’m feeling today? I’m feeling really annoyed at AI, and how many fake videos and images get circulated around that people just assume are real. It scares me in so many ways — how this can be used so nefariously and how people don’t do their due diligence.

The Epstein files have also deeply disturbed me, and I’m really pissed off that so many men in power are perverted and disgusting. I mean, we kinda knew, but seeing it in writing is just gut-wrenching. I swear, sometimes I just want to close my eyes and ears and tune out the news, but I also could never turn a blind eye to the reality of our world if I’m committed to trying to make it better. It can be a hard balance sometimes, though.

In other news, I have made it through six months of breastfeeding, and I am very proud of myself. I am not anti-formula in anyway, shape or form (I was a formula-fed baby, and I’m doing great), and this is not to make anyone feel bad for not being able to breastfeed or choosing not to breastfeed. I am team fed is best! But you just never know how the journey is going to go, so I am proud of myself for sticking it through, and I hope to continue on as long as I can.

Before I had a baby, people would say “breastfeeding is hard,” and I didn’t really know what that meant. Yes, it can mean the actual act of breastfeeding is hard, such as getting baby to latch, but I think more than anything, it’s the physical and emotional commitment when you are the person responsible for feeding your baby from your body.

No one told me about cluster feeding before I gave birth. I remember the first few weeks sitting on the couch for HOURS on end breastfeeding, crying wondering if I would ever be able to get up and make myself a meal ever again. For a while, it felt like I couldn't really leave the house by myself or do anything that would take more than hour. My baby was feeding at least every two hours, but the two hour clock starts when the baby STARTS feeding, not ends, and he would feed for 45 minutes sometimes. I remember texting my friend one day and telling her that I had been breastfeeding for an hour and a half, and she was shocked.

Thankfully, I would go on Reddit, message my lactation consultant, and text my friends, and everyone would encourage me that this was temporary. “It gets easier,” everyone says, but you wonder, “WHEN?!”

Slowly but surely, it did get easier. I gained confidence. I learned my baby’s cues and signals. Everything got faster and more efficient. I am here to report that six months in, it really has gotten easier. It takes me 10-15 minutes to feed instead of 45, and I no longer worry if my baby is getting enough, I am doing this right, etc. It will never be “easy” in the sense that I still wake up at night to feed, I have to think about pumping if I want to be gone for long stretches of time, and every time I get dressed, I have to keep accessibility in mind.

And honestly, if I had to work out of the house, I don’t know what I would do. The convenience of being at home allows me to feed my baby, but for so many working mothers, there’s the added load of having to pump and plan and prepare. People talk about wanting to get breastfeeding numbers up in this country, but they don’t do anything to help support women! Maternity leave policy in this country is abysmal. I knew this objectively before having a child of my own, but it feels so much more extreme once you have an infant of your own and see it firsthand. This is why I understand why people can’t continue to breastfeed, because they’re not getting the support. We need support! It’s not always intuitive! And pumping and planning, for me personally, is exhausting.

I’ve had these thoughts swirling around for awhile, and although I didn’t really plan to go on such a rant today, I’m just trying to be more forthcoming about what’s on my mind lately. And this is it.

THINGS I’M LOVING

Ippodo has been my favorite matcha brand for years. It’s been selling out more recently with the explosion in matcha popularity, but whenever I try to drink another brand, it’s never the same. Thankfully, my favorite matcha for lattes (their Ikuyo matcha) is in stock right now, and they so generously offered a discount code for my followers, which is good until February 14th! I know I will be using my own code to buy some 100g bags for myself, ha! Not sponsored, just something I want to share with fellow matcha lovers! KALEMEMAYBE gets you 15% off anything on the Ipoddo website!

our creations!

My sister and I went to a silver ring making class over the weekend, and it was such a cute experience! I’d never heard of this technique before — you use silver clay to mold your own 99.9% silver ring! My sister and I each made our own rings, and the host made one for us as well. It was a great bonding activity, and you walk away with new jewelry! If you’re in Los Angeles, it’s a must-do!

I made a fresh batch of the English Muffins this week, and when I saw this Baklava-Inspired English Muffin recipe from Pinch of Yum, I immediately added it to my must-make list. And my GOD, was it delicious. You just pulse together pistachios and walnuts and mix them with melted butter and brown sugar, broil, and then top with mascarpone. It’s like a decadent pastry, and I’m already eager to make it again.

DISCOUNT CODES!

**NEW CODE ALERT: Ippodo Tea (good until February 14th)**

Supplements

• KALEMEMAYBE25 gets you 30% off your first order with Ritual!

• Use my link to get up to 45% off Grüns gummy vitamins!

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Food & Drink

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• Use my link to get 30% off your first order and a free gift from Thrive Market

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• KMM25 gets you 25% off your whole order at Ground Up Nut Butters

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RECIPE!

I would prepare beets more if they didn’t feel like such a pain in the butt to roast and peel, but every time I make them, I’m reminded that I actually do love beets, a lot. I love that they’re simultaneously earthy and sweet, and they make everything look so pretty and fancy!

As I’m sure you know, once you toss up a beet dish, everything gets stained red. I thought this salad was so gorgeous before I mixed it up, but then once it was tossed, I also loved the pink hue. And since Valentine’s Day is in a couple weeks, the timing couldn’t be better!

In addition to the beets, this pasta salad has cara cara oranges, crispy chickpeas for protein, red onion, feta, dill, and finely pulsed pistachios that get dusted over the top. The dressing is also citrus-y and a teensy-weensy spicy (barely), made with oranges and some Calabrian chili peppers.

Beet & Citrus Pasta Salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

Salad

• 2 beet bunches (one gold, one red, about 4-6 medium beets)

• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed, drained and patted dry

• 8 oz pasta of choice (I used quattrotini)

• Olive oil

• Smoked paprika

• Cumin

• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios

• 1 medium cara cara orange, diced

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

• 3 oz feta, crumbled, plus another 1 oz or so to top

• 3 tbsp roughly chopped dill

Orange Calabrian Chili Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 tsp Calabrian chili peppers

• Juice of 1 navel orange

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp honey

• Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes to an 1 hour until fork tender. When beets are ready, let cool before peeling and chopping. I chopped my beets into slightly different sizes for more texture.

2. Meanwhile, line a small baking sheet with parchment paper, add the chickpeas, and toss in a little olive oil and a few dashes of smoked paprika and cumin. Season with salt and pepper, toss, and transfer to the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and crispy.

3. While everything is roasting, prepare your pasta according to package. Drain, and toss in olive oil to prevent sticking if it’s ready before everything else.

4. Add your pistachios to a blender or food processor, and just pulse a couple times (or blend for like 5-10 seconds) to get the pistachios very finely chopped.

5. Prepare your dressing by combining garlic, Calabrian chili peppers, orange juice vinegar, olive oil, honey, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk together until smooth.

6. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, chickpeas, beets, oranges, red onion, feta, and dill. Add the dressing, and toss together. Top with a little more crumbled feta and the pistachios.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for a one-pot creamy, lemony, leek and artichoke chicken and rice dish! Another 30-minute meal babyyyy — still going strong over here! Can’t believe there are almost 100 (!!!) 30-minute-budget meals in the archives now. May have to do something big ton celebrate getting to 100.

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!