Recipes for Success: Mason Jar Salads
June 2, 20151) They take too long to prepare.
2) They are boring!
3) By the time the salad makes it to lunchtime, either the lettuce is all soggy with the dressing, or the container with the dressing has leaked all over their lunch bag.
Good news! There is a fantastic trend booming around food blogs everywhere! Mason jar salads. They are a great way to make salads for lunch in a quick and easy manner; you only have to prep once and your greens will never get drippy (and neither will your lunch bag!). Get five jars out and prep them for your whole week on Sunday night. Seal them up and every morning you can grab one on your way out the door to work.
The only real “rules” you need to know for your Mason jar salads are the following:
- Start with the dressing at the bottom of the jar.
- Next add in the more dense veggies or solids (like beans, quinoa, carrots, etc.) because not only will they not react to the acidity of the dressing, but they will soak up the flavors of the dressing and get better as the week goes on.
- Layer items from most to least dense, ending with the greens. This will ensure everything stays layered.
- Leave a little room at the top so when you are ready to eat it, you can shake it all up and the toppings will all have room to move around and get mixed and coated with dressing.
Here are my favorite two new ways to enjoy this Mason jar trend!
Spicy Taco Salad
High in protein, fiber, and lots of healthy fats. This is a great one!
Here are your layers from the bottom up for one jar!
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Ingredients
½ cup salsa mixed (optional w/ 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt)
½ cup mixed beans
½ cup diced cucumber
¼ avocado diced
½ cup extra lean ground turkey cooked in chili powder
½ oz grated cheddar cheese
Directions
Mixed greens almost to the top!
Curry Quinoa Salad
This salad gets even better throughout the week as the flavor from the dressing mixes with the ingredients.
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Dressing:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
¼ tsp curry powder
¼ tsp cumin
Salad:
1/2 cup diced tomato
½ cup cooked quinoa with 1 stalk green onion chopped
½ cup diced chicken breast
1-2 cup spinach
 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rachel Girardi, MsC graduated with a Masters in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario in 2007. Her philosophy is that fitness, nutrition and lifestyle cannot be looked at in isolation. She combines her love of fitness and good food to help her clients improve their health and the quality of their lives. Her main goal is to figure out how to fit “healthy” into your life while still letting you live it.Read more articles by Rachel! |
