Summer Bowl with Hot Honey Halloumi

& a little special something for all my new friends here!

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! Learn more about my paid membership here. You can also try a week for free!

CATCH UP!

Catching up on work again after another weekend of travel (I know, don’t even say it). This past weekend, Grant and I flew out to join Liz Moody on her nomad adventure in Utah with our other good friend Justine Snacks! We spent the weekend doing lots of hiking, eating, and having lots of good laughs. Liz and her husband also introduced me to freeze dried candy, which was life-changing, but I made Grant hide our bag that we bought since I have no self control when it comes to candy. And in case you’re wondering, I’m very much a sugary, sour gummy kind of girl. I love chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I’m a sucker for that straight up colorful sugar candy!!

Also, hi!!! I have a lot of new subscribers this week, so welcome!!

If you’re not familiar, I send out a newsletter every Wednesday to everyone on the list, where I include a recipe, lots of ramblings and thoughts, and a list of my favorite things I’m enjoying that week!

Every other Friday, paid members also get an exclusive recipe! I also post additional recipes throughout the week on my Instagram and TikTok.

Because I have so many new people here, I thought I would do a little special this month — access to my paid membership is on sale! We’re doing 25% off, as long as you subscribe by this Friday, June 16th!

Thanks for following along, and I look forward to having you here :)

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I mentioned this above, but this week, I discovered freeze dried candy — and in the most bizarre but amazing way. After we dropped Justine off at the airport, Liz and her husband took us to this woman’s house in the middle of a suburban area of Salt Lake City. We rang the doorbell and walked down the stairs of this woman’s home (aka Kimmie’s Kandies) into a magical candy oasis. My favorite candies I tried were the freeze dried nerds gummy clusters and the taffy, but they also had things like freeze dried ice cream, caramel apples, and even jello.

I have always loved a soft smoky eye look, so I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get brown eyeliner?! It is much easier to get a softer cat eye when you’re using a brown eyeliner pencil instead of a pen. I’ve been using the Revlon Colorstay in 203 Brown.

I made some homemade brazil nut milk this morning, and it was a reminder how easy it is to make homemade nut milk at home. I used to do it all the time years ago, and I am definitely going to go back to my making my own more regularly again. I used this recipe for the brazil nut milk — just make sure you have a cheesecloth or nut milk bag for straining!

RECIPE!

If you’ve been around for awhile, you know I love a good bowl. This one takes the best of summer produce and flavors to make a filling, vegetarian-friendly bowl that’s filled with salty, sweet, and spice.

It may look like a lot of ingredients, but the bowl is just made up of little mini components that are all plated together, and each component is easy to make! Lentils provide the protein, and the abundance of veggies such as zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion provide lots of additional nutrients. And of course, can’t forget a sauce — this one is a basil yogurt sauce that’s nice and refreshing.

Summer Bowl with Hot Honey Halloumi

Ingredients (serves 2)

Bowl

• 1 ½ cups cooked rice 

• 1 cup cooked lentils

• 1 medium/large zucchini, diced (about 1 ½ cups)

• Olive oil

Quick Pickled Onions

• ½ cup thinly sliced red onion

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

• Pinch of salt

• Pinch of sugar

Cucumber Tomato Salad

• 2 small Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced (about ¾ cup)

• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

• Drizzle of olive oil

• Sprinkle of salt

Basil Yogurt Sauce

• ½ cup Greek yogurt

• ¼ thinly sliced basil

• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1 tsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp salt

Hot Honey Halloumi

• Olive oil

• 8.8 oz halloumi, cut into 1-inch slices

• Hot honey

1. If your rice and lentils aren’t cooked yet, start by preparing those according to package.

2. Preheat oven to 425 F. Add your zucchini to a parchment paper-line baking sheet, toss in a little olive oil and salt, and bake for 20-30 minutes until zucchini is soft on the inside but just getting a little crisp on the outside.

3. Prepare your quick pickled onions by mixing everything together in a small bowl. Massage with your hands to break down the onion, and set aside to marinate, making sure the onions all get submerged by the liquid.

4. Prepare your cucumber tomato salad by mixing everything together inside a medium bowl.

5. Prepare your dressing by whisking together ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.

6. Prepare your 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 3-4 minutes (until golden brown) on one side. Flip, drizzle with honey again, and cook for until 3-4 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

6. Add all your components to a bowl, starting with the rice as your base, and ending with the halloumi. Top with the basil yogurt sauce, and serve warm.