You can use whatever beans you have on hand in place of the Great Northern beans in this salad. Chickpeas, pinto beans, lima beans, or cannellini beans would all work great in their place. Any mild-flavored bean will taste delicious!

Feel free to substitute your favorite cheese in place of the goat cheese. Feta, cotija, queso fresco, blue cheese, manchego, or even sliced brie would all taste delicious in this recipe. Basically, you can use this recipe as a blueprint and make it your own!

I prefer a log of goat cheese, but pre-crumbled goat cheese will work as well, I just find it to be a little dry for my taste. Flavored goat cheese is also a great way to take this salad to another level. I like to use garlic and herb goat cheese when I can find it.

This salad will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days because kale is such a hearty green. However, because it’s massaged it will start to get a little too soft after a few days. I’d recommend not adding the croutons until just before serving if you’ll be enjoying it at a later date, as the croutons will get soggy.