Spring & Summer Cherry Panzanella

& life prep

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 had my 3-hour glucose test yesterday, and it zapped my energy, but today I’m feeling much more alive!

Now that I’m in my third trimester, I’ve been thinking and planning ahead, which means I’m trying to double up on recipes so I can keep this newsletter chugging along postpartum and hopefully have some new content to share for you while I focus on baby.

I love this job and all the flexibility it has to offer, but it is a little stressful that I don’t get any paid time off postpartum. Disappearing for 4 months is not an option, so I’ve been figuring out how I can balance work while also allowing myself to take that precious for myself and baby. For a moment there, it sent me into a panic thinking about it, but now I’ve chosen to just believe it will all work out and be fine. Other content creators have done it before me, and there’s no reason I won’t be able to figure it out, especially if I plan ahead.

I feel bad because I feel like everything that has been on my mind lately has been baby-related, and when I come to chat on here, that’s what comes up for me. I know that not everyone here cares about pregnancy or motherhood, and I want to be sensitive to that while also honoring that those subjects are playing a huge role in my life right now.

Beyond that, I’ve been baking with the loquats on our tree, taking lots of walks, getting dinner with friends, and really relishing in the warm-weather — going to squeeze in some beach time this week.

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I’ve been really into Gap for the past year, and it looks like Old Navy is stepping up their game as well! They have the cutest 100% cotton summer dresses, and as a large-chested girlie, I LOVE that I can wear a bra with these and still feel whimsical and summery. I loved my white floral dress so much I also ordered it in the green stripe color, and it $25, it is such a steal! Sizes seem to come in and out of stock, so just keep your eye on it!

I hate that I have fallen in love with Kérastase because there are certainly cheaper products out there, but each of their products that I have tried have been incredible. Their Ultra-Hydrating Hair Mask is amazing — it leaves my hair feeling so smooth after the shower. And I’ve still been using their viral Magic Night Serum to protect my ends at night, and it is a staple in my routine now. Shoutout to my bestie Natalie for giving me these products for my birthday and ruining me forever.

This pregnancy has me craving dessert left and right, and Loacker Quadratini Wafers are one of the sweet treats I can’t get enough of right now. I love their hazelnut flavor best, but their cappuccino is also amazing. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of their flavor options, and I love that the wafers are kind of itty bitty so I can just eat a few to satisfy my sweet tooth.

ACTIVE DISCOUNT CODES!

**NEW CODES BELOW (East Fork & Algae Cooking Club)

Supplements

• KALEMEMAYBE25 gets you 30% off your first order with Ritual!

• Use my link to get up to 45% off Grüns gummy vitamins!

• KALEMEMAYBE gets you 15% off Armra Colostrum!

Food

• KALEMEMAYBE gets you 10% off Fishwife products!

• KMM10 gets you 10% off your first purchase with Ground Up Nut Butters

• DRIZZLE gets you 20% off Little Zing Mustard

• KALEMEMAYBE gets you 15% off Kola Goodies tea lattes

• CARINA20 gets you 20% off Primal Kitchen products

• KALEMEMAYBE15 gets you 15% off Flour & Water products

• CARINA15 gets you 15% off Juliet Wine!

• CARINAWOLFF gets you 40% off your first order with Hungryroot!

• CARINA20 gets you 20% off of Algae Cooking Club

Other Products

• CARINA10 gets you 10% off Starter Kits from Branch Basics!

• CW15 gets you 15% off Bon Charge Red Light Therapy

• CARINA15 gets you 15% off East Fork Pottery

RECIPE!

Summer weather = panzanella time. What’s there not to love about a salad with fresh fruit, vegetables, and crispy bread?

The second I saw cherries in the store I knew I had to snag some, and I made a spring/summer hybrid panzanella that has tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon radishes, shallots, basil, mint, and burrata. I used torn sourdough as my bread and tossed it in some garlic and sumac for extra flavor. And the dressing is a simple vinaigrette made with champagne vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and hot honey.

Perfect for having friends over on a warm day, especially between the seasons!

Spring & Summer Cherry Panzanella

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

Salad

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

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp sumac

• 1 1/2 cups halved cherries

• 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced watermelon radishes (cut into quarters)

• 1 1/4 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes

• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced basil

• 1 1/2 tbsp roughly chopped mint

• 4-6 oz burrata

• Optional: pinch of aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper

Dressing

• 2 1/2 tbsp champagne vinegar

• 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2 tsp hot honey (can sub regular honey)

• Pinch of salt and pepper

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

2. Add the baked bread, cherries, cucumbers, watermelon radishes, tomatoes, shallots, basil, and mint to a bowl, and toss together.

3. To make dressing, add to a small bowl or jar, and whisk ingredients together with a fork until smooth.

3. Transfer salad contents to a plate, and top with burrata, pulled apart into pieces. Pour on the dressing, and finish off with a pinch of aleppo pepper, if desired. Serve immediately!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for coconut-crusted chicken tenders with mango corn salsa over rice! A filling meal fit for the warm weather!

Just a reminder that anytime you become a paid subscriber, you get access to ALL of the past recipes in the archive, plus one exclusive recipe a week! You can always do a free 7-day trial as well!