How to Pack a Salad Jar

Timevarda

Editor

posted on 11 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The ideas of using mason jars have grown significantly over time. In a garage, they are useful in holding bits and screws. In a typical craft room, they are useful in holding beads and jewelry. In a kitchen, they are useful in holding pantry ingredients, such as sugar, flour, or for canning food. When you need a healthy meal at work, using mason jars to store salads are convenient as any item you would imagine.

Steps

Preparing the Jars

Decide on the jar size. It's recommended to use wide-mouthed jars, as they are easier to add ingredients in and remove ingredients from. Pint sized jars: Recommended for single serving salads; if you wish to have a good handful or two of greens and toppings Quart sized jars: Recommended for dinner serving salads; if you wish to have a good amount of greens, accompanied with vegetables and toppings Two quart jars: Recommended for potlucks and gatherings

Clean the jar thoroughly. Use a mild soap and hot water to clean the jar and lid before using.

Packing the Jar

Learn the rule of layering. Start with the heaviest ingredients at the bottom and the lightest at the top.

Add the salad dressing first. Depending on the size of the jar, drizzle a few tablespoons of your favorite salad dressing on the bottom. Placing the dressings at the bottom ensures the light ingredients that get soaked easily, such as lettuce, won't be touching the dressing during storage.

Add any "soak-friendly" ingredients. Hard vegetables, such as peppers, cucumbers, or anything sponge-like such as mushrooms can be added on top of the salad dressing.

Layer your grains, soy proteins, or legume proteins next. Tofu or beans can add a huge amount of nutrition to your salad jar.

Add meat or egg proteins and cheese on top. Shredded cheese, chicken strips, and hard-boiled eggs are great "goodie" ideas.

Layer dried fruits. Sprinkle some dried apricots or cranberries to have some sweetness in every bite.

Top the jar off with salad greens. Because these are the most unfriendly ingredients with salad dressing contact for a prolonged time, make sure (if possible), they are the furthest away from the dressing. Tear into pieces to make them fit.

Store the jars. Refrigerate the jars for up to a week.

Serving the Salad

Use a separate bowl to eat from. Because you will be cramming ingredients, the most effective method in eating these is to dump your salad in a separate bowl.

Eat it straight from the jar. This is doable, but harder to combine everything. You may have to eat a few ingredients from the top to get into the rest of the salad.