Tzatziki Beet Salad

& bye bye '23!

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

CATCH UP!

It’s a gloomy day, and I’m sipping my bone broth hot chocolate for the third day in a row. After quite a few flop recipe videos last week, I think I’ve finally filmed a few in the past couple of days that I feel passionate about! I’m also making my way through lemon recipes so I can use up all 10 lbs of lemons I received as a PR package before we leave for Atlanta this week.

I haven’t really been reading much because I have had no motivation to pick up Iron Flame (I’m sorry don’t hate me), so I think I’m going to have to DNF and switch to something else so I can get sucked into a good book. I’ve been watching Sex and The City as my background show while I cook, and the show is really hitting differently now that I myself am in my 30s. Grant and I are also still watching 7th Heaven and giggling together, so I guess you could say we are on a 90’s kick!

Grant and I spent the weekend with my family, and then next weekend we will visit his family for Christmas. This is the first year in a long time that I’m really looking forward to the start of the new year. I’m eager to turn a new leaf, although I know a calendar change doesn’t actually make anything different. But I’ll take any mental boost I can get!

I have one more recipe coming this week for my paid subscribers (chili crisp squash and dumpling soup), and then I’ll be taking the week between Christmas and New Year’s off of the newsletter! I’ll still be posting on Instagram, so follow me there, and if not, see you in 2024!!

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I love a good chili crisp sauce, and one of my favorites is the Momofuku Chili Crunch. It’s not overly spicy, and I love how thick the crunch is. This is the chili sauce I used in the butternut squash dumpling soup recipe that’s coming Friday, so jump on it if you plan to make!

I don’t buy many clothes on Amazon, but I have a shorts and tee lounge set that I love, so I decided it was time to get the winter equivalent. This Slouchy Sweater Set is also on sale and is also, apparently, a Free People Dump. I got it in brown, but they have lots of different colors!

This will probably be the only time I ever feature a product more than once, but it’s my own gosh darn collab with Ground Up, so I have to scream about it from the rooftops! I have been getting SO much positive feedback on my Fudgy Mint Cookie Cashew Butter that I just want everyone to try it! It’s low in sugar and made with minimal, whole ingredients, and it tastes like an amazing thin mint cookie! Don’t forget to use code “kalememaybe” for 10% off!

RECIPE!

I realized the other day that I had not purchased or cooked a beet in AGES, and I knew I had to remedy that immediately. I was inspired by a video I saw from Freddsters where he made a beet salad, and I decided to do my own spin on his beet salad using tzatziki, feta, walnuts, and dill.

There’s a Persian version of beets in yogurt called Borani-e-labu, and while this isn’t quite the same recipe, the concept is similar in that roasted beets are mixed with yogurt! The base of this salad is actually tzatziki, and then it’s topped with golden and red beets, feta, walnuts, and dill. It’s creamy and crunchy and a great appetizer for a dinner party or just alongside any protein!

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

Beets

• 4 large beets (2 golden 2 red)

• ¼ cup crumbled feta

• 1 tbsp chopped dill

• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Tzatziki (recipe adapted from The Wanderlust Kitchen)

• 2 small Persian cucumbers, grated

• 1 1/2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt

• 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp white vinegar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp chopped dill

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 1 hour until soft.

2. While beets are roasting, prepare the tzatziki. Grate your cucumbers, and use a cheesecloth (or add to a fine mesh sieve) to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. In a small/medium bowl, mix together Greek yogurt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and salt until completely smooth. Then mix in the drained, grated cucumber and dill. Spread the tzatziki onto a plate.

3. When the beets are ready, let them cool, and then peel off the skin. Chop the beets, and place them on top of the tzatiki. Top with feta, dill, and walnuts, and finish off with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve warm or room temp!