This is an easy to prepare and really delicious plant-protein (tofu) and leafy greens (chard) dish. As the tofu is already baked  and usually seasoned (you can buy these packages in most health food stores) and the greens are raw, it’s a no-cook option for when you’re pressed for time or don’t want to heat up your kitchen (the walnuts can be toasted, but don’t need to be).

Ingredients:

Salad-

1 bunch rainbow swiss chard, finely chopped (rainbow chard makes for a colorful and particularly tasty dish, but other chards can be substituted).
½ package baked tofu, cut into bite-size cubes
2 cups red cabbage, shredded coarsely
2-3 carrots, grated
1 cup walnuts, broken up into smaller pieces (they can be toasted, as described below, if you like)

Dressing-

2-3 cloves garlic (pressed or chopped)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
½ cup walnut oil (olive or flax oil would work if you don’t want to purchase walnut oil)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Directions:

1. Cut off stems of the Swiss chard and chop leaves by rolling the chard into a tube and slicing them, creating small strips.
2. Combine chard, tofu, cabbage, carrots and walnuts in a large bowl.
3. Blend all dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drizzle salad with dressing and toss well.

If you’d like to toast walnuts, do it  before chopping them into smaller pieces. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet (or shallow pan with sides that prevent nuts from sliding off as you’re moving them in and out of the oven). Bake 5 to 10 minutes or until they are GOLDEN brown. Stir once or twice or shake the pan during toasting to aid in even browning. They will continue to brown slightly after they’re removed from the oven, so don’t overdo them (better to err on the side of under-toasting than over-toasting). Remove from pan to cool.