This is the perfect comfort food for cold days. To make it vegan, substitute non-dairy ingredients for dairy. Leftover filling makes a great lunch! If you want to make mashed potatoes from scratch, you will want at least 4 cups when you are through.
Use any combination of nuts and seeds. This salad would also be good with sliced bell pepper or shiitake mushrooms. Serve as an accompaniment to pepper steak or pork chops glazed with hoisin sauce. Look for the wheat noodles labeled as plain for this salad.