Winter Caesar Salad

& I'm writing a cookbook!!! (and the story behind it)

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 week! Paid subscribers get even more on Saturdays — 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!

In case you missed the big news on my Instagram yesterday, I’M WRITING A COOKBOOK! I know a lot of people don’t talk about their cookbook deals until their book is about to come out, but I decided I want to take everyone along the ride with me. Writing a cookbook is sooo much work, and I just didn’t feel like I could hide that part of my life, especially while doing it all postpartum!

This book has actually been in the works for a while now. Those of you who have been around for a long time know that I wrote two other cookbooks in the past, one about spiralizers and one about plant-based protein. I wrote those books when I was in my early 20s and had about 8,000 followers on Instagram. I got paid basically nothing for both of the books and only had a few months to work on each, which is absolutely insane. It was completely grueling to write both, and since I was commissioned to work on them, I didn’t have much creative control. I was also so new at recipe developing that I didn’t have the skills and knowledge I do now.

That being said, without those books, I would have never taken the leap and left my full-time job to embark on creating recipes full-time. I’m still proud I did those books, but they don’t represent what I have to offer, now. And because I was so burnt out writing them, it took me almost a decade to feel ready to write the book I’ve always wanted to write.

Which brings us to now! I started chatting with some editors a year and a half ago about writing another cookbook. This time, I would get full creative control, picking what recipes I wanted to include, the theme, etc. It was going to be my book, representing the way I truly cook and live my life. I was connected with my fabulous literary agent last summer, and we began working on the proposal. I was not yet pregnant and still doing IVF, so it felt nice to have something else to focus on.

Then I got pregnant and almost bailed on the book. But my agent said no, you can do both! So we still shopped the concept around, and one of my biggest stipulations was that I needed lots of TIME. I did not want my first year of having a baby to be ruined by this project, and I did not want this project to be ruined by having the baby. I’m so grateful my editor at Abrams completely understood this and gave me ample time to write the book. I started working on it last summer during my third trimester, gave myself a 4-month “maternity leave” away from the book, and then I picked it up again this winter.

I won’t lie, there have been moments where I’ve absolutely spiraled thinking about doing a project of this scope while being a new mom. However, now that I’ve started working on it again, I feel so inspired and excited and fulfilled. Social media is not my passion. It is a wonderful vessel to share my passion, which is making and sharing beautiful recipes. This cookbook is reconnecting me to what I love about my work. I feel so lucky to be able to do this dream job, and I am truly giving it my all with this book, testing and retesting each recipe until it is absolutely perfect. I already know I’m going to be so proud of it — and of myself for doing two hard things in one year!

THINGS I’M LOVING

I came across this article about friendships in The Atlantic the other day that really resonated with me. It’s titled “The Friend Group Fallacy,” and the author points out that although many people yearn for a big friend group, it’s actually not the norm to have one. It is way more common to have one-off friendships, and the idea that we should have a big crew is actually contributing more to feelings of loneliness than not actually having a group.

I’m trying to include more color in my wardrobe, and this merino wool and cotton sweater from Sézane is the most gorgeous shade of blue. Full transparency, this was gifted to me, but I have nothing of this color in my wardrobe, and I love how it made my eyes pop! It’s super thick and chunky, which is a fun look with the chunky buttons, too, and I love that it’s a little cropped. It also comes in black and beige if neutrals are more of your thing!

We’ve taken 4 flights with Sagan now, and one of our travel essentials is an on-the-go diaper pouch. It’s useful for taking into airplane bathrooms when you don’t want to lug around your full diaper bag, and if you’re staying in a house, it’s great for a little to-go diaper station. Pehr has adorable prints — we have the forest one, but I love their striped ones! They are made with organic cotton and are machine washable. I also recommend a portable changing mat to go with it!

RECIPE!

Over the weekend, we went to Wallflour Pizza with some friends, and we got a Caesar salad that I couldn’t stop thinking about. It was very non-traditional — it had radicchio, roasted squash, rosemary breadcrumbs, and pomegranate seeds, and after I ate it, I knew I had to recreate it at home.

They used kuri squash at the restaurant, but I used yellow squash just because it’s a little easier to find and handle. I made a mock “Caesar” dressing using my mayo trick (so you don’t have to use raw egg yolk), and I made it nice and lemony like the restaurant’s. Again, not traditional, but delicious. Skip the anchovies if you can’t handle it, but I love them.

The rosemary breadcrumbs were my favorite part, and I thought the pom seeds were a nice touch!

Winter Caesar Salad

Salad

• 1 yellow squash, cut into 1/2” slices

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 romaine heart (about 2 cups)

• 1/2 head of radicchio, roughly chopped

• Lots of grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

• 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Lemony Caesar Dressing

• 2 anchovies

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 2 tbsp mayo

• Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the squash and 1 tbsp olive oil. Toss together, season with salt and pepper, and bake for 15-20 minutes until squash is soft and getting crisp around the edges. Keep an eye on it around 10 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn.

2. In a small skillet on medium heat, add the butter. Once it has melted, add the bread crumbs and rosemary, and toast until golden, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat immediately to prevent from burning, and transfer to a small bowl to cool.

3. Prepare your dressing by adding ingredients to a blender and blending on high speed until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, add your romaine, radicchio, and cooked squash. Add the dressing, and toss. Transfer to a plate (if not serving in the bowl), and top with a big handful of cheese, the breadcrumbs, and pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for an Herby Lemony Tuna Salad! Canned tuna is the ULTIMATE budget-friendly protein, and this is a tuna-salad that’s light, fresh, and ready in 10!

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