Pepperoncini Ranch Chickpea Bowl

& embracing my honest era

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! Learn more about the paid tier of my newsletter here. You can also try a week for free!

CATCH UP!

My head is swirling with so many thoughts and emotions this week. I feel simultaneously fulfilled and excited while also feeling overstimulated and mentally exhausted.

Putting out our fertility journey podcast episode this week brought me a lot of joy. It feels like the start of a new journey for me, another place to express myself, which at the end of the day, has always been my biggest passion. I struggle to record stories or short snippets on social media, but I feel I can best express myself in a longer format, something like a podcast — or this newsletter!

But every time I feel like I release a part of myself into the world, I also feel a little exhausted. I’m sick of worrying about the future. I’m sick of going to the doctor’s office all the time. I’m sick of analyzing every single facet of my health.

I’ve been so self-conscious about complaining too much online, and I think it’s because it feels so disconnected from how I see myself. I am typically someone who is very excited about life, motivated to do things, inspired by the mundane, and optimistic about life’s curveballs. I haven’t been feeling that way lately, and I worry if I talk too much about what’s difficult now, people will tap out eventually, because I’ll be someone who only talks about negative feelings. I worry that people are too black and white — that they think I am miserable and only miserable, and not experiencing plenty of joy and peace in the meantime.

I realize this is entirely counterproductive, and it is not the feedback I’ve received from anyone. Someone told me that I am simply describing grief — you’re mourning something while you continue to live your life and experience the full scope of human emotions. And I think that’s the best way to look at it.

I might be tired and frustrated today, and then next week, I’ll swing back around and talk about how much I’m looking forward to my next creative project or weekend trip. All of those things are true at the same time. But that is called being alive. And if anything, I’m just being honest, and that alone is worth something to me.

It’s so cheesy, I’m sorry, but I am so eternally grateful for my Substack community. In the social media world where the algorithm dictates way too much, I love that I have this newsletter. I love that I can write, share my recipes, record a conversation with my husband, respond to reader emails, and consume other people’s beautiful work, all in one place.

So thank you for listening as I travel all over the place emotionally. Thank you for being here, reading this, and giving me the space to show you who I am, even when I don’t feel my best. Somehow, that makes everything feel just a little bit better.

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I just finished reading Talking At Night, and I really enjoyed it! I would say 4.5/5 for me. I’m such a sucker for a coming-of-age love story where the people keep finding their way back to one another. This author has been compared to Sally Rooney, and besides their absence of quotation marks, I didn’t quite feel that, but I still was in my feels reading it.

I have always been in love with all things Fishwife, but their Albacore Tuna in the spicy olive oil? OMG. Melt in your mouth!! I could eat it straight out of the can, truly. Use code KALEMEMAYBE for 10% off!

These days, if I’m having a drink, I want it to be a special cocktail. Stephanie Wahler of Bevs by Beverly sent me her new cocktail book Kindred Spirits, and I am SO impressed. The photos are gorgeous, and I am actually inspired to make every single one of these cocktails. And if you’re inspiring me to make a drink, which I don’t crave very often, you KNOW they’re good!!

RECIPE!

I’m not going to lie: many of my recipes repeat the same formula, but I like what I like, and I am okay with that. If you’re asking me what I’m making for myself every day when *the cameras are off*, it’s a loaded bowl! I usually pair a grain with a green, top it off with a protein, roast up some veggies, and then make a sauce and something briney, like pickled onions.

The star of this bowl is the pepperoncini ranch made with Greek yogurt, chopped pepperoncini, and some basic spices! It’s healthy, filling, and fun! My fave combo!

Pepperoncini Ranch Chickpea Bowl

Ingredients (serves 2)

Bowl

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

• 1 medium sweet potato, diced

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

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

• Garlic salt

• 2 cups arugula

Quick Pickled Onions

• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 1/2 tsp honey

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1/8 tsp salt

Pepperoncini Ranch

• 1 cup Greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini

• 1 tbsp pepperoncini brine

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tbsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp dried parsley

• 1 tsp dried dill

• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Add the chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss in 1-2 tbsp olive oil and a few good, generous shakes of onion salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until chickpeas are golden and crispy and sweet potatoes are soft on the inside but crispy on the outside.

2. Prepare the quinoa according to package. Set aside to let cool slightly.

3. Quick pickle the onions by adding sliced onions, red wine vinegar, honey, oregano, and salt to a small bowl and massaging the onions with your hands. Set aside.

4. Prepare the pepperoncini ranch by mixing everything together in a small bowl.

5. When everything is ready, divide into two bowls. Add the quinoa, arugula, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, and top with the red onion. Add a large dollop of the ranch, and serve warm or cold, your choice!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

There are TWO posts this week that you may need to catch up.

The first is the usual 30-minute budget meal, One-Pot Spanakopita Pasta, a play on the spinach-and-feta-filled Greek pastry.

The second is my first-ever podcast episode with my husband, Grant, where we answer all your questions about our fertility journey! We share lots of deets on our year-and-a-half quest to have a baby and discuss how we’re dealing with it and our options moving forward! Super excited about this one, and I have another coming next week!