Hot Honey Halloumi Quinoa Salad

& living in baby land

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 hate to be this person, but so much of what has been on my mind lately has just been this pregnancy. I know that can be so annoying for people who don’t care about kids or motherhood, so I apologize.

It’s obviously what I think about every day, and I am starting to turn into one of those annoying people who loves being pregnant. I try to justify it by remembering the two long years I struggled to get here — I’m allowed to be obsessed! And now that I’m feeling kicks, I can finally believe something is in there. I’m feeling more relaxed than ever, more at peace, something I haven’t felt fully in awhile.

Grant and I have spent the past week building out our registry, and man, there are so many products and so many differing opinions. As someone who loves to research everything too much, I’ve spent way too long going down rabbit holes, reading about each product and driving myself a little crazy. The lesson I’ve learned is that there’s no way to know what you or your child will like until baby is born. So it’s a lesson for me to just let go and move on.

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I have spring majorly on the mind, especially because there are supposed to be summer-like temperatures coming to LA this week. So as I’ve been doing my shopping, I’ve moved away from sweaters and into dresses and shorts. I got these striped linen shorts from Quince, and at just $30, they’re a great deal for 100% linen. They come in a bunch of solid colors as well as gingham, and they’re loose and breathable, just the way I like my warm-weather clothing.

I recently started a Gua Sha practice after owning a Gua Sha Jade Tool for years and never using it. If you’re not familiar, Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese Medicine technique that’s used to improve circulation, increase blood flow, reduce swelling, etc. I’m doing it as a preventative measure to prevent facial swelling in pregnancy, so I can’t say how much it’s helping until we get into the later months, but I can say how much I’m enjoying the ritual. I try to do it morning and night (or one of each), and I just watched videos online on how to do it. It’s very soothing!

Most of you know that I’m a matcha girlie through and through, but every once in awhile, I have a coffee craving that can’t be ignored. They’ve been happening more recently lately (the baby gets what the baby wants), so I’ve been having Grant make me lattes using Flamingo Estate Coffee Beans! I’m obsessed with Flamingo Estate all around (I even got to cook there in 2020), so when I heard they had their own coffee beans, I knew I wanted to buy some for Grant. And of course, like all their products, it lived up to expectations.

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RECIPE!

It’s the return of the hot honey halloumi! But rather than make another season bowl, I turned this one into a quinoa salad and added more of my classic ingredient inclusions like dates and crispy chickpeas. I added in some celery for some light crispness, and everything is tossed in a creamy lemon oregano yogurt dressing. And the fresh parsley leaves are a must. I just love a handful of fresh herbs in a salad.

Hot Honey Halloumi Quinoa Salad

Ingredients (serves 2 as a main)

Salad

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

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

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp cumin

• 3 celery stalks, cut on the bias (about 1 cup)

• 1 1/3 cup chopped grape tomatoes

• 3/4 cup finely chopped red onion

• 4 Medjool dates, chopped

• 1 large handful of parsley leaves (okay if there are some stems)

Hot Honey Halloumi

• 8 oz halloumi

• 1 tbsp hot honey

Lemon Oregano Yogurt Dressing

• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp champagne vinegar

• 1/2 tsp oregano

• Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the chickpeas. Toss in olive oil, cumin, and a pinch of salt, and transfer to the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chickpeas are golden and crispy, mixing halfway through.

2. Prepare the quinoa according to package, and then set aside to let cool.

3. Prepare the hot honey halloumi by heating up a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the halloumi, drizzle with hot honey, and fry for 1-3 minutes on each side until halloumi is golden brown. Set aside to let cool slightly, and then chop up into bite-sized pieces.

4. Prepare dressing by whisking together ingredients in a small bowl or jar with a fork until smooth.

5. Add quinoa, chickpeas, halloumi, celery, tomatoes, onions, dates, and parsley leaves to a large bowl. Toss in the dressing, and serve!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Last week, paid subscribers received another 30-minute budget meal! These Gochujang Noodles are about to rock your world!! They’re creamy and spicy and of course, extremely easy to make.

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!