Farro Salad with Golden Beets & Halloumi

It's almost summer, let's goooo

Hi! Welcome to “good mood food” from Kale Me Maybe’s Carina Wolff. If you’re somehow reading this and aren’t yet subscribed, be sure to do so below. You can expect recipes in your inbox every Tuesday, and paid subscribers get even more!

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In case you missed it: Last week, paid subscribers got a recipe for “Lemony Egg Salad Toast!” I love this one — it’s really simple, with minimal ingredients, but still majorly delivers when it comes to flavor and texture.

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Coming this week for paid subscribers: I’m interviewing Grant and getting him to share what it’s really like to date a food blogger (I guess now it should say ‘be engaged’ to a food blogger, but that doesn’t quite have the same ring!!). Grant will be answering your questions from Instagram, and hopefully, he will be exposing me with all the juicy info! This should be fun, especially if you’re interested in the behind the scenes of food blogging/the influencer world.

Recipe I’m Loving: We made my simple citrus salmon this week — I forgot how soft and flavorful this dish is. I added some red onion this time, but I think next time I make this, I’m going to try out some new herb combinations, maybe even different fruit too!

Life updates: Last week was so fun and celebratory celebrating our engagement, but this week there’s not much to report! However, I have two pieces of media I want to share.

First, I was a guest on the “Fix Your Plate” podcast, and we actually discussed my previous newsletter post, “Influencers as Wellness Gurus.” I thought it was such a fun and insightful conversation. We cover the whole “guru” phenomenon as well as what it means to be a public figure, correcting your past wrongdoings, the ethics of having a platform, issues in the food/wellness space, etc.

Secondly, I just published a piece for The Zoe Report called “Experts Say Nutritional Psychiatry Is A Thing — But How Does It Work?” This really goes hand in hand with another newsletter post I released last week called “How To Start Eating For Your Mood.” This is one of my favorite subjects, so to be able to cover it so frequently makes me feel really lucky.

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RECIPE!

I am obsessed with warm weather and warm-weather foods (hence why I live in LA), so I get extra excited when summer produce starts to come into season, and everyone else across the country starts to get equally excited about eating salads and picnic-style foods. I live for throwing vegetables and grains in a bowl and calling it a meal.

This farro salad will have you wishing you were spending the summer in the Mediterranean. The grain acts as a base and is paired with raw, thinly sliced golden beets, which tend to be a bit milder in flavor than your traditional red beet. I threw in some cherry tomatoes and mint for some extra summer freshness, but the halloumi really is the star of the show. It gets crispy on the outside and melty on the inside, and adds a nice saltiness to the dish without overpowering the flavors of the veggies. A simple honey and red wine vinegar combo ties it all together with some sweetness and tanginess.

If you ever wanted more protein here, you could easily add chickpeas, lentils, or even some grilled chicken or shrimp.

As always, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@kalememaybe) if you make this dish!

Farro Salad with Golden Beets & Halloumi

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 cups cooked farro

• 3 medium golden beets, peeled, thinly sliced, and quartered

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 1/2 cup mint, roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 8 oz halloumi, cut into 1/2 inch slices

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp honey

• 1 tsp za’atar (My favorite is from Z&Z!)

• Salt and pepper

1. Add cooked farro to a bowl, along with beets, cherry tomatoes, and mint.

2. In a large pan, heat up olive oil on medium heat. Add halloumi slices, and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer to the bowl with the rest of your ingredients.

3. Whisk together the red wine vinegar and honey in a small bowl until evenly combined. Drizzle over bowl ingredients, and top with za’atar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss together and serve.

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