Last week I wrote about how to eat right when you’re traveling or on the go, and a big part of that was packing your own food.

Just before taking off for Nicaragua a couple weeks ago, I made an Instagram post showcasing some of the food I’d packed for my trip. One of my followers asked me what type of salads I pack to take on such long journeys. On that particular trip, I had made a green salad from a box of mixed greens and packed a 2 ounce bottle of dressing in with my liquids, but that’s not the type of salad I typically travel with.

If you’re traveling all day — whether it be a plane to far off destination, a weekend road trip up north, or even an all day beach outing — you need some healthy and hearty snacks that will hold up. You also want something filling since you don’t know when you’ll get your next real meal.

I make a lot of quinoa salads, kale and beet salads, broccoli salads, taboubleh variations, and similar such options. There are recipes for all kinds of picnic, party and travel salads on my site as well as on Off the Water’s online archive. I’ve shared many of them over the years.

One of my longtime favorites that comes to mind is my lentil salad. It’s really simple, but it satisfies and won’t spoil. When I used to sell boxed lunches for the beach, this was always one of the hit salads. It was even featured in Bella NYC Magazine one summer as a bikini-approved poolside lunch dish.

One of the things I love most about this dish as that it really just calls for around the house ingredients you can throw together in a flash. It’s perfect for all those impromptu boat outings!

Lentil Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

1 lb steamed lentils
2 large, heirloom tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
¼ cup curly parsley, roughly chopped

Mustard Vinaigrette
4 oz olive oil
1 oz white wine vinegar
2 Tbs whole grain mustard
Cracked black pepper
½ -¾ teaspoon Sea salt

1. Cook lentils according to serving instructions. Let cool completely.

2. Next, In a large bowl mix together lentils, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Combine remaining ingredients in a salad shaker and mix well. Pour dressing over lentil/ veggie mix and stir until salad is completely covered. For best flavor refrigerate several hours before serving.

Kat Barry, a St. Joseph, Michigan native, is owner of Kat’s Hot Cakes vegan catering, and co-author of “The New Chicago Diner Cookbook: Meat Free Recipes from America’s Veggie Diner.” She also develops recipes for eHow.com, where you can find over 30 of her vegan instructional cooking videos. She is also a certified yoga instructor. Kat currently resides in Chicago, and in her free time she enjoys practicing yoga, sampling local spirits, listening to live music, and getting outdoors. Follow @katshotcakes on twitter. Kat can be reached via email at: kat@katshotcakes.com.