First, prepare quinoa. Place quinoa and water into a medium pot.
Bring to a boil over medium/high heat. Once boiling, turn down to low and cover. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until all liquid has absorbed.
Next, toast almonds. Place chopped almonds into a pan. Turn heat to medium and toast for around 3-5 minutes making sure to constantly stir so they do not burn. Remove from heat once they've turned a golden brown.
Place kale into a large bowl and drizzle on olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage the kale for a few minutes until the kale turns a bright green and has become softer to the touch. Set aside.
Next, prepare carrot and asparagus ribbons.
For the carrots, use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons. Simply peel each carrot as you normally would with a vegetable peeler but continue until the entire carrot is gone. Repeat for both carrots.
For the asparagus, cut off the asparagus tips and add them to the bowl with the carrot ribbons. Then, cut off the hard end at the bottom of each asparagus spear and discard. Using the same vegetable peeler, create asparagus ribbons with the center part of the asparagus.
Assemble the salad by placing the carrots, asparagus, red onion, fresh mint, dates, and feta into a large bowl.
Add the kale and quinoa to the bowl and toss.
Finally, drizzle on the salad dressing and toss until everything is combined.
Serve immediately and top with the crunchy chickpeas or meal prep by distributing the salad evenly into four meal prep containers. Keep the chickpeas separate from the salad if meal prepping because you don't want the chickpeas to get soggy!