A Neat New Way to Get your Salad Fix!

If you’re like me, you might get a little lazy when it comes to making salads on a daily basis.  I love making a large platter of greens and fixings for a party, but I can’t seem to motivate myself to make a salad for the two of us on a regular basis. One of the reasons is that I like my salads filled with lots of goodies, and chopping up small amounts of many ingredients is tedious and it isn’t very time effective. When I came across the new trend for Canning Jar Salads, I thought it was a terrific idea! All of the work in one day, results in a week of salads!

You may already do something similar, like prepping your lettuce and greens for the week, cutting up a bunch of veggies and storing them in baggies or containers so that you can pull a salad together pretty easily. However, this takes that idea a step further and makes the daily work nonexistent. It also inspires creativity so that you don’t end up with the same boring style salad of greens, a few veggies, a tomato or two… you get the picture. Storing each day’s salad in a canning jar keeps the ingredients fresh, makes it transportable and allows you to do nothing more than shake and pour for it to be ready to savor!

There are several themes that you can utilize in doing this. You might want to limit the variety per week so you are using the same ingredients or vary it slightly by using the same dressing, but trading out different proteins, cheeses or vegetables. Or you could select two different salad recipes and alternate eating them so you have a variety. I put together five completely different salads to give you some ideas to start with. I wouldn’t necessarily do all five in one week, but I thought it might be fun to show you a variety of choices. Of course the options are endless! Just check out Pinterest and you will see a ton of different ideas.

What is most important when using this process is how you layer the ingredients in the jar. Some sites say you should not add items like chicken, avocado or nuts in the jar, and add them later. I have not found this to be a problem. Especially if you are using fresh ingredients, eating the salads within a week and layering them correctly – you should be fine filling your jars with everything you need. I used quart jars which would make a main dish salad or enough for two. A pint jar would be enough for one. (Be sure to clean the jars before filling. I run them through the light cycle on my dishwasher) Here is the process I use:

1. Start with the salad dressing. I use about 3 tablespoons for a quart jar. You can vary it depending on the size of jar, your personal preference and the type of salad you’re making, but the dressing must always go in first.
2. Second, add any firm vegetables such as celery, carrots, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. This will make a barrier from the rest of the ingredients to keep the salad from getting soggy.
3. Next in line are any hearty beans, grains or pasta items, such as Israeli couscous, cannellini or black beans, pasta shells, etc.
4. You’ll want to add your proteins next. That would be things like chicken, shrimp, cheeses, or hard boiled eggs.
5. You can add the more delicate grains next such as couscous or quinoa.
6. Now you’re ready for any salad greens that you want in your salad. They should be bite sized pieces, cleaned and thoroughly dried so they stay fresh and crisp, and packed in as much as possible. The ratio I use is about half greens to the other ingredients. Save a pinch of space on top.
7. I end my salad with any chopped nuts, croutons or crispy bacon/pancetta pieces. I always toast and cool my nuts to bring out their best flavor and I want them on top so they stay crisp. UPDATE:  I have found that the nuts, croutons and bacon aren’t remaining as crisp as I would like so I have decided to save them in airtight containers on the counter and add them in when I eat my salads.

My last tip is; if you select items for your salad that you won’t be using completely, use the leftovers in a soup! While making my salads, I had some extra cauliflower and sweet potatoes. I pulled out my spiralizer, and instantly sliced up an onion and sautéed it with some garlic. I added the cauliflower and potatoes, some spices and broth and whipped up a batch of soup to go with my salads. I multi-tasked while I was chopping away and the soup practically made itself!

Roasted Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Salad

• Orange Vinaigrette
• Cauliflower florets and Red pepper
• Cranberries
• Goat Cheese
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Spinach
• Slivered Almonds

• Miso Dressing
• Celery and Carrots
• Radishes
• Green Onions
• Roast Chicken
• Tangerine Segments
• Butter Lettuce
• Sliced Toasted Almonds and Sesame Seeds

• Champagne Vinaigrette
• Celery
• Blue Cheese crumbles
• Apple slices
• Spinach
• Candied Pecans

• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Carrots and Cucumber
• Grape Tomatoes
• Artichoke Hearts
• Kalamata Olives
• Goat Cheese
• Butter Lettuce and Micro Greens
• Toasted Pine Nuts
• Chickpea Croutons

So go put your thinking cap on and create some cool “Canning Jar Salads” of your own and let me know how it turns out!

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