Every now and then I make something I think is going to be boring and simple and just a way for me to save money by packing it for lunch rather than buying a $12 salad near the office. But rarely am I as excited about my own salads as I am the ones I buy – anyone else have this feeling? It’s like if someone else chops all the ingredients and puts dressing on it, it’s somehow better than the ones I make myself. That is to say, until I made this kale & quinoa salad. The thing I like about packing kale is that it’s such a sturdy green that you can add the dressing, take it to work, and by lunch time the kale hasn’t wilted. Try that with spinach, and your crunchy salad is nothing but slimy mush by lunch time. What I liked about this salad is it was crunchy, but also protein packed and light enough to make me feel full but not gluttonous. And seeing as though it’s holiday season, that’s something that’s really important!

What you’ll need for the salad:

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 cups kale, shredded or finely chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chickpeas

What you’ll need for the dressing:

• 2 TBS tahini
• 1 TBS nutritional yeast
• 1 TBS warm water
• 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon truffle salt

I find kale easiest to eat when it’s all ready finely chopped, so start by chopping up or tearing your kale. Chop the celery and all the salad ingredients to a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together until they’re all incorporated. Taste to make sure it’s to your liking.

Toss the salad with dressing (I used about half the dressing on one serving of salad) and top with a little fresh ground pepper. And that’s it – super easy, super tasty and healthy too!

The only thing that would make this even better would be to add avocado on top – I was bummed I didn’t have any ripe ones laying around when I mixed this up. But next time, I’m definitely adding some sliced avocado too.