Salmon with Plum Salsa

and thoughts on reconnecting to our old selves

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 in your inbox every Tuesday, and paid subscribers receive even more every Thursday! You can also try a week for free!

Quick announcement: I’m moving paid posts back to Thursday! I feel like emails were getting lost in the shuffle so close to the weekend, so we are going back to Thursday posts! If you’re a paid subscriber (or want to join!), don’t forget to leave a comment here with content requests or any other feedback!

CATCH UP!

It’s interesting that last week I wrote about seasons of self-growth, and this week, I am feeling called to self-care (although this was also likely triggered by a tough week alone with our new dog, struggling to make work deadlines and sleep well).

When I lived in my apartment in Santa Monica (where I lived for 5 years), I used to wake up in the morning, make a matcha, take a book outside, and read on my front stoop, all before I started my workday.

Today, I live in my own house with way more outdoor space and way more flexibility and freedom in my job, yet I never take time to read in the morning anymore. I think the deeper you get into a business, the more work piles on, and the older you get, the more responsibilities you have, and it’s way easier for those little treats of moments to fall by the wayside. I also tend to be hard on myself though, as I have this chronic problem where I want to be doing EVERYTHING.

I want to have an active social life, take morning walks, film recipe videos, have a newsletter, write a novel, spend quality time with my husband, see my family, travel, try new restaurants, have a drink or two, meditate, journal, paint, text a friend, scroll TikTok. I want to do it all, but doing it all is not in fact possible, nor should it be admirable or attainable. I hate clichés, but this one is true: It’s all about the balance baby!!

That being said, I think it’s nice to revisit old habits that we know make us feel good. When I think about times in the past I was really happy, I was meditating a lot, reading, having stimulating conversations with others, and connecting with nature. I think even if we aren’t in a self-growth period (maybe you should read last week’s newsletter if you still don’t know what I’m talking about), I think we can be in a re -connecting period, where we revisit lessons learned in self-growth periods past.

So while I’ve found a new morning habit that makes me feel amazing (morning walks), I could stand to get back to a little morning read ever so often. Or maybe it now becomes a sunset read! But I also need to remind myself that I’m in a new season of life, and sometimes different habits serve us at different moments, and I’m okay with that. We can always return back.

THINGS I’M LOVING

Skincare: I have been using the Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen, and I am OBSESSED with how it feels like LITERALLY NOTHING on your face. That being said, I like options, and I have also been trying out the new Cocokind Silk sunscreen. I have really been liking this one as well! It’s not matte like the Unseen, but it blends in REALLY well with no sign of whitecast (although I have light skin, so keep that in mind). I find it cool that it’s a hybrid sunscreen (a mix of chemical and mineral), so you can get the benefits of both.

Food: Salt & Straw sent me some pints of ice cream from their new “Veggies You Crave” series, and some of them are kinda weird (but really, that’s why I’m a Salt & Straw fan, because weird is fun), but most of them are pretty amazing. My favorite, in particular, was the Green Fennel & Maple. I could not stop eating it. In a close second was the Red Chili Curry & Makrut Lime Crispy Rice, which is dairy free. It has these little chunks of rice in there, and like I said, sounds kind of weird, but it was actually incredible! I love how innovative they are with their flavors, and they just execute everything so well.

Planner: I am such a huge fan of Notion for organizing (recent fan, I should say), but I have ALWAYS been a physical planner girl. I love to write down my tasks and cross them off, and I like to also see my calendar on paper. I’ve been buying the Rainbow Vision planners for a few years. I love how there’s a to-do list for the week on one side and a weekly planner on the other. There’s also space for goal-planning, journaling, etc. I use it every single day, and I love the beautiful colors!

RECIPE!

At this point, I should probably just start a series called salsa on salmon (see previous recipes: Salmon with Spicy Avocado Feta Salsa and Miso Butter Salmon with Sizzled Scallion Salsa Verde). I just love making meals like these because they are SO fast to make, taste gourmet, and can be eaten with a side salad or a grain, making them a balanced dinner and easily customizable depending on your mood, dietary restrictions, or even the season.

This plum salsa is made with jalapeño, basil, red onion, lime, and cumin, giving it more of a savory flavor with a touch of sweet from the plums.

Salmon with Plum Salsa

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 salmon filets (about 1 lb)

• 1 plum, diced

• 1/2 medium jalapeño, finely diced

• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion

• 4-5 basil leaves, thinly sliced

• Juice of 1 1/2 limes

• 1/2 tsp cumin

• Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on a baking dish, and place the salmon filets skin side down. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top, and bake for 15 minutes or until salmon is flaky.

2. While salmon is baking, add plums, jalapeño, red onion, basil, lime juice, cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a small bowl. Mix together. When salmon is ready, spoon the salsa over the filets and serve!

DISCOUNT CODES

Fable: Code KALEMEMAYBE10 for 10% off ceramic dishware

Ruggable: Code KALEMEMAYBE10 for 10% off

Bindle: BEACHDAY for 20% off!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Even though I love doing videos now, sometimes I miss the casual flexibility of photos. I use to post a lot more of my random concoctions, so I channeled that energy for last week’s bonus recipe for paid subscribers! This potato and egg breakfast bowl is a bit of spin on potato and egg salad, but it’s warm! Idk, just try it out!!

Potato & Egg Breakfast Bowl

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