This is the companion recipe to Vegan Celebrity Spotlight: Q & A with Vanessa Rae.

TV presenter, producer, and host of Today show on MSNBC.com Vanessa Rae keeps up with her busy schedule with a healthy staple lunch: a Kale salad. She likes to take some time at the beginning of the week to clean and chop all the vegetables so that it’s a snap to put together throughout the week.

Vanessa Rae’s Kale and Quinoa Salad

There are no measurements, just experiment. It’s really good & healthy.

Equal parts cooked quinoa & chopped kale

2 chopped mini peppers (red, orange, or yellow)

1 small tomato chopped

1-2 chopped scallions for crunch

1/2 avocado (can do a whole)

1/3-1/2 can of chickpeas (optional)

A little olive oil

A little Bragg’s liquid aminos (health food version of soy sauce or tamari)

1/4 of lime juice

A few dashes of ground up flax seeds (optional)

Carrot peels or chopped carrot (half a carrot)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix the kale and quinoa, then added the liquids (olive oil, lime juice, Bragg’s liquid aminos) and then add the peppers, tomatoes, scallions, avocados, chickpeas, and toss well. Then I add the flax seeds on top. If you’re using carrot peels, they look nice on top. You can also add a little salt, pepper, and/or cayenne pepper, paprika, or hot sauce to give it a little kick. Chopped nuts would also work well with this.

Also see these healthy and light recipes: Roasted Veggies with Tahini Sauce, Carrot Ginger Soup, Avocado Bliss Soup

Vegan Korean Food: Doenjang Jjigae and Sauteed Sesame Leaves

Follow Vanessa on Twitter (@vrageous), Facebook (vanessaraereports), and Pinterest (thevanessarae)!

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Photo: Peaceful Dumpling