Salad in a Jar

If you have been on Pinterest then you already know all about the "in a jar" food craze. You can put just about anything in a jar and bake it or freeze it or, just use it as a unique way to serve it.

If you haven't seen these creative recipes and ideas then you should check out Big Red Kitchen . They have dozens of things to bake or serve in jars.

Anyway, I saw a few pins on Pinterest about putting salad in jars and I thought that was genius.

I made the above pictured quinoa salads for a bake sale and they sold really quickly. I included the dressing in those one pictured above because I was preparing them to be eaten right away.

All you need is a fork!

The ones I have pictured below do not have the dressing in the jar with them as I made them to put in the fridge for me to eat over a period of a few days.  

The two pictured above are green salads with a few of my favorite vegetables chopped up in them. In one I put some coleslaw on the bottom as well as the vegetables just for something a little different.

What I love about these is that when you are hungry, you can just dump them into a bowl, add your favorite dressing, and you are ready to eat.

My niece (Sue's daughter, Kenzie) wanted to make some Southwest salads with black beans, onions, corn, and salsa. Not exactly my favorite, but I did steal some of her black beans and corn and layered it with mixed greens, mushrooms, onions, and a bit of couscous. The smaller jars are more quinoa salads (The quinoa is hiding under the ring) but I didn't put the dressing in them as they would be sitting for a few days in the fridge.

We also made some Israeli couscous and some gluten free, whole wheat pasta to round out our salad collection.

For me these are very helpful with the whole trying-to-eat-more-veggies thing.

I hate making salad. I also strongly dislike eating salad BUT I am trying to change that.

Having a variety of different salads with different veggies and fillers already made, in the fridge, ready to eat is working pretty good. I made enough that I have 1 big, mixed green salad and 1, smaller either pasta, couscous, or quinoa salad each day. I made up enough for 5 days. (So - with excellent math skills - that is 5 big ones, and 5 small ones. Impressed?)

Today is day 3 and the salads are still fresh and crisp. I think they will make it to the 5 day mark with no problems.

In about one hour Sue and I and Kenzie made about 20 different salads. We did all the chopping, washing, cooking (pasta, quinoa, etc...), and layering in the jars in that time. I made a bit of a mess but overall it was worth it. Now I have a lunch and dinner salad all week and won't have to chop any more vegetables.

Works for me :)

P.S. - If you want more tips and tricks on how to layer your salads and things like that then please check out Big Red Kitchen . They have in depth how to's and great information.