Cucumber & Avocado Panzanella with Feta & Scallion Dressing

& an argument for romanticizing your life

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!

CATCH UP!

I woke up Monday morning feeling incredibly anxious. I’d slept at my parents’ house the night before so I could be closer to my doctor Monday morning, and I immediately felt out of sorts. The past few weeks, we’ve been in an out of different cities for weddings, and back and forth between our house to numerous doctors appointments that has thrown my entire schedule, and thus my mental state, out of whack.

I was making a bowl of oatmeal, and I found myself soothed by the act of thinly slicing a pear. Cooking, before it was ever my career, was a form of meditative stress-relief. It has also always been an art form for me, a creative expression. I’m a very visually-inspired person, so when a dish is completed, with its various textures, colors, and patterns, I derive great pleasure from its final form.

“Romanticize your life,” is a typical TikTok saying that, on its face, is easy to make fun of but actually has great value. I do feel happier and less anxious when I move slowly, giving my attention to the mundane details. I find pleasure in carefully cutting up pears and walnuts to place atop my oatmeal, adding a delicate knob of butter, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of flake salt. Eating an attractive breakfast on a regular morning gives me the sensation that even an average day can be special. The ritual itself doesn’t require that much from me, but its glowing effect can last hours. And if this same attention is repeated throughout different tasks throughout the day, the effects can be long-term.

When I think about my happiest and most care-free times, I think about when I was the most optimistic about the future, specifically in my early 20’s. Every little thing I was doing was loaded with great potential, and sometimes, I feel like I’m missing that feeling these days, unless I intentionally create it. It takes more effort to “romanticize my life,” but when I turn the mundane into the promise of something bigger, I feel better about myself and the world around me. It’s these little interstitial moments that actually shape most of our lives, and they deserve our attention and appreciation.

THINGS I’M LOVING!

You may have seen these Rancho Meloduco Dates all over Instagram — I did too, but I couldn’t understand how one brand of dates could be so much better than the others. I still can’t say I understand scientifically how it is possible, but I can confirm that the hype is true. These dates are that good. They’re just so soft and gooey and delicious — I’ve been loving frying them in a little bit of olive oil for a little snack/dessert!

My FYP has been exploding with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives content, so Grant and I watched it on Hulu over the weekend, and we binged it so quickly! I wasn’t so sure if it was going to be something I liked at first, but I was ultimately hooked. It’s obviously juicy with drama, but I also just found peeking into the Mormon lifestyle to be interesting, even if many of these girls are straying from tradition. But that’s what made it fascinating — seeing these young mothers rebel against restrictive rules, the patriarchy, etc. — or alternatively, fall victim to it.

I am a die-hard Salt and Straw loyalist, and with this heatwave we just had, I went quite a few times in attempts to cool down. I am currently obsessed with their new limited edition Apple Series, particularly the Green Apple Wasabi Sorbet and the Caramel Apple Sherbet. Both flavors remind me of elevated versions of those green apple caramel lollipops.

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RECIPE!

Panzanella is inherently a summer salad, but unlike my Peach and Cherry Panzanella I shared earlier this season, this panzanella is meant to guide us into fall. I’m phasing out the summery fruits and bringing in the greens, although one could argue that cucumber and avocado still evoke a summer essence.

But that’s okay! We’ve got 11 days left until the autumn equinox, so let’s go out with a summer salad bang!

This recipe has your toasted bread (the cornerstone of a panzanella), cherry tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and red onion. It’s topped with feta chunks and a sizzled scallion dressing inspired by Chinese scallion sauce, and it’s finished off with some fresh mint.

I’ve done a few variations of this scallion dressing, and it always impresses me every time. It makes a fairly simple salad feel more complex in flavor, and it’s so easy to make!

Cucumber & Avocado Panzanella with Feta & Scallion Dressing

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

Salad

• 2 slices sourdough bread, cut into 1” cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)

• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced Persian cucumber (about 2 cucumbers)

• 1 heaping cup quartered cherry or grape tomatoes

• 1 cup sliced red onion

• 1 avocado, cut into large chunks

• 1 cup feta, broken into chunks

• 5-6 mint leaves

Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 4 scallion stalks, finely chopped

• 2 larges cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

• 2 tbsp champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Add your bread to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and toss in about 1 tbsp olive oil with a pinch of salt. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy on the outside.

2. Add baked bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and avocado to a large bowl, and toss together.

3. Prepare dressing by heating up olive oil on medium-high heat until very hot (but not smoking). Add scallions, garlic, and red pepper to a small bowl, and pour the hot oil over the contents of the bowl. Mix in the vinegar, and set aside for a few minutes.

3. Transfer the contents of your salad bowl your serving plate, and top with feta chunks. Spoon over the dressing, season with black pepper and more red pepper, and then garnish with a few mint leaves.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for end of summer nachos! These nachos can really be eaten all year, but they feel like an ode to the end of the season. This was another recipe that’s part of my 30-minute budget meal series!

I also put out a whole long post all about our IVF journey so far (linked below).

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!