Dressing: Whisk together buttermilk, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. Chill this while you make the rest of the salad. Or better yet make a day or two ahead.

Red Onions: Place water and baking soda in a bowl with the thinly sliced red onion rings and soak for 15 minutes. (This will neutralize and remove the pungent bitter bite.) Rinse onion slices really well with water to clean off the baking soda residue.

Kale: In a salad serving bowl, combine kale with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Massage with your hands to work the liquids and salt into the leaves, about 5 minutes or more if you want it really tender. (Lacinato kale is known to be more tender. If you use a different kale massage longer for mature kale, less for baby leaves.)

Crunchy Quinoa Topper: Toss cooked quinoa (thoroughly cooled- see notes) with olive oil and salt. Spread onto two sheet pans in thin layers. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hempseeds, sesame seeds with 1 tablespoon tamari or Braggs. Spread onto a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes or until desired toastiness. After the seeds completely cool, mix with the crispy quinoa and store in an airtight container up to a month.

Assemble: Drizzle in about 1/2 of the dressing over the kale, taste and adjust salt, pepper and add more dressing (we like it saucy, but make it to your preference!). Layer on onions and dill. Top with 1/2 cup or more of quinoa crunchies. 

Reserve the crunchy quinoa topper for sprinkling on when serving immediately.