This Is the High-Protein Salad Mindy Kaling Eats When She Travels

If you often travel by plane like Mindy Kaling, you probably know that food options, let alone healthy food options, can be a bit limited when you're in transit. And while ready-to-eat sandwiches are convenient and sometimes, among the nutritious options you can find, they can start to get a bit old, or maybe, you just want something different. That’s why Kaling believes that making your own food is the trick to not only enjoying a delicious meal on your ride in the sky, but also feeling better when you touch down.

In her recent Instagram post, Kaling is pictured happily enjoying a nutritious and veggie-packed homemade spinach salad on the plane. She reminisced in the caption about her experience about 14 years ago, when saw Jessica Biel whip out a homemade salad, “that was definitely a better option than whatever I was eating.” The large plastic container Kaling posted showed a salad filled with what looks like beans, dark leafy greens, a bit of dressing and some other edible adornments, and we can’t wait to follow suit on our upcoming travels.

Before discussing how Kaling made her travel salad, it’s worth addressing the immense number of comments about not being able to bring food through the security checkpoint. One commenter wrote, “Mindy, I love you but us common folk aren’t allowed to bring food through security at the airport.” While this may be a common misconception, the Transportation Security Administration does allow you to bring food like salads on your flight, as long as any liquid component like the dressing is less than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters. And now that that’s all cleared up, here’s how she makes this nutritious meal.

How to Make Mindy Kaling’s Travel Salad

While this dish looks simple in her Instagram post, it’s surprisingly packed with many nutritious and hearty ingredients. That said, Kaling unfortunately didn’t list the measurements. So, if you’re in need of a little guidance, you can use our formula for a healthy salad to help lead you in the right direction.

For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Dressing of your choice
• A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved and seasoned with salt and pepper
• Whatever leafy greens you have in your fridge
• A bunch of asparagus, chopped and blanched for two minutes
• Canned wild salmon in water, drained and flaked
• A sprinkle of goat cheese

Start by making your dressing (or pulling out your favorite store-bought bottle). Kaling made a quick and easy one with olive oil, Momofuku seasoning salt (which is a blend of kosher salt, garlic, tamari, kelp algae and mushroom powder), honey, salt, pepper and Dijon mustard, which sounds delicious! Store the dressing in a separate container until you’re ready to eat to prevent your salad from getting soggy.

Continue by adding the seasoned cherry tomatoes to a container. This adds some acidity and juiciness to balance the other crunchy and savory flavors. Then, add in any greens you have available for the salad base. Kaling used butter lettuce, Romaine and spinach. Next goes in some crunchy bites of nutrient-packed asparagus. Vegetables like these help provide fiber, vitamins and minerals to the salad for something energizing and filling. But feel free to adjust the recipe to include whatever vegetables you have in your fridge that you'd need to use up.

You can then drop in half a can of rinsed cannellini beans, as well as a whole can of wild salmon. Kaling swore, “It doesn’t stink like tuna,” so she’s obviously a conscientious and considerate airplane traveler. This helps add some satisfying protein to the salad, but other protein-rich foods like eggs, nuts, chicken or tofu would be delicious additions as well.

To finish everything off, all you need to do is pour your dressing over top with a sprinkle of goat cheese. What you’re left with is a filling, fiber-rich meal that’s packed with protein to help you stay satisfied until the flight is over.

Keep Reading: 5 Reasons You Should Eat More Canned Fish, According to a Dietitian