In a bowl toss baby spinach, chopped tomato, cucumber slices, and chopped apple. Add the cottage cheese and "stir" so all the ingredients mix well with the cottage cheese. Break the rice cakes up into smaller pieces and mix into salad. I don't use salt in my food because I like the fresh taste of vegetables and cottage cheese usually has some salt added... But if you like, add some olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. The rice cakes make this salad crunchy, the apple adds subtle sweetness (and your serving of fruit!) and the cottage cheese makes the salad thicker so it fills you up, plus you get your protein and calcium! You can also add chickpeas, tofu, bell peppers...