Salad Jars

Salad Jars are one of my best tip to get a healthy lunch every day at work in minimum time. If you use mason jars with their tightly fit lid, your salad could be prepared up to 5 days ahead of time taken freshly to work, college or school everyday.

Layering here is very crucial for the salad to remain fresh.

• First layer: at the bottom of the jar, put the dressing: 1 Tbsp olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper with any herb or spice you fancy: oregano, rosemary, peppermint, sumac... It is important to avoid mixing this bottom layer with the remaining of the salad (especially the green leaves and sprouts) until just before serving.
• The second layer should be hardy vegetable that will withstand being in the oil/vinegar dressing for 2-5 days. Basically any vegetable that can be pickled is good to add here: baby carrots, cherry tomatoes (whole not cut), zucchini, turnip, sun dried tomatoes...
• After that comes any other still hard vegetables (cucumber, celery, broccoli, cauliflower...), beans or fruits (pomegranate, cranberries -fresh or dried),
• Following layer is the protein. This could be animal-based protein like left over chicken, veal, tuna, salmon, smoked salmon, shrimps, eggs... Or, plant-based protein like lentils, beans, quinoa, nuts and seeds.
• you can still add perishable vegetable on top of that if you have place: cut tomatoes, bell pepper, avocados...
• the final layer should take at least 1/3 of your jar and this should be the green leafy vegetables and some sprouts if you want.

​At time of serving you can just put the jar upside down for 2 minutes for the dressing to infuse the whole salad. Then eat straight from the jar. Or, you can empty the whole thing in a big bowl. Mix and serve.

Bon Appetit.