Healthy eating: salad in a jar

Salad in a jar

Nourishing ourselves and eating mindfully often seem to take a backseat in our busy schedules.  I am a huge fan of preparing as many of my meals as possible in my own kitchen as I enjoy the process of gathering, preparing and presenting a meal even if it's just me at the table.

Here's a healthy meal that you can make ahead so you can grab it and go on your way out the door or when you are pressed for time  You can make one or several for the week.  The key is to put the salad dressing on the bottom of your canning jar and then top that with some sturdier ingredients that can stand up to being submerged until served.  Items that work well include beans, carrots, cabbage, peppers, cooked potatoes or the like.  You keep stacking ingredients putting the most delicate on the top so they don't get bruised. When you are ready, just turn the jar upside down over a large bowl or plate and the salad dressing will pour down over the mound of salad and you are ready to eat!

If you want to make more than one, set up an assembly line and fill the jars with your prepared ingredients.  You can vary the dressing or the ingredients to mix it up.  You'll have several meals together in no time.

Salad in a jar

Layer everything in quart size canning jars. The salad pictured above starting from the bottom is:

Vinaigrette (like this one or use your favorite bottled dressing)

Drained and rinsed canned chickpeas (or any protein source you like)

Fresh mozzarella (or vegan feta)

grated carrots

sweet peppers

spinach, arugula, lettuce mix

chopped red cabbage

spring onions

radishes

cut cherry tomatoes

pumpkin seeds 

toasted walnuts 

croutons (stored separately and added at serving time so they wouldn't get soggy)

Other favorite combos include:

Southwest flair

Salad dressing  made of ranch dressing or plain yogurt with a little salsa and chili powder stirred in

corn

black or pinto beans

jalapeño or sweet peppers

salad greens

spring onions

radishes

tomatoes

grated cheese

tortilla chips (added at serving time)

Asian flair

Oriental style salad dressing - homemade or bottled 

cubed tofu (or other protein)

shredded napa or green cabbage

grated carrots

spring onions

mung bean sprouts

sweet peppers

sesame seeds

roasted cashews or peanuts

I hope you give this a try, and we'd love to hear about some of your favorite combinations in the comments below.

Aurora harvesting salad ingredients from Melinda's garden

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