Salad in A Jar

I recently had a couple of follow on message from a status update regarding "Salad in a Jar". One of the person who sent me messages suggested I put this out to the message boards.

I'm always looking for new and fun ideas to try since I'm having such a high success rate with my personal Salad in a Jar experience (also got high praise from the nutritionist at my doctor's office recently). So if you have other ideas, please add on!

Here's the info I was messaging:


Thanks for your question about salad in a jar. I don't have specific recipes, though I can tell you the principles I follow and give you some ideas on what I've had that's been tasty.

I got my inspiration from a couple of websites:
1) http://www.thekitchn.com/salad-in-a-jar-make-a-week-of-lunches-173014
2)http://heartofwisdom.com/heartathome/2012/06/01/how-to-make-salad-in-a-jar/

Right now, I'm eating a concoction that has (in order that I put them in the jar): 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 c garbanzo beans, 1/2 c quinoa, 1/4 c shredded carrots and about 2 c lettuce.

Last week I had 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 of a fresh pear chopped, 1/4 cup feta cheese, 1/4 c pepitas, and a mix of 2 c lettuce and spinach. The greens are approximate.

In the recent past I've made chicken caesar salad in a jar: 2 tbsp caesar dressing, about 1 tbsp shredded parmesan or romano cheese, croutons (they got a little soggy from absorbing the dressing by the end of the week), chopped lettuce... and on the morning of I would add about 1/2 c diced sauteed chicken breast that I cooked and froze on Sunday... added the chicken directly from the freezer to the jar. If I didn't put the jar in the fridge at work, the chicken was still cold but not frozen at lunch time.

I like this one a lot too: 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/4 c walnuts or pecans, 1/2 apple chopped, 1-2 tbsp craisins, 1/4 c wild rice, and approx 2 c spinach

Something more on par with what I'm eating this week is 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c quinoa, 1/4 c shredded carrots, 1/4 c shredded beets and about 2 c lettuce.

You can really mix and match based on what you have on hand and what you're hungry for.

The general idea is to put the dressing in the bottom of the jar, then add things that will keep it from touching the lettuce/spinach. The separation of the dressing from greens is what keeps the greens fresh.

The jars I use are wide mouth 1 quart size. I also find it helps to use a jar funnel to get the grains and greens in there, though I do admit to "shoving" the greens through the jar funnel. I'm sure I could be more gentle if I were worried about bruising the greens.

I hope that helps.

ETA: Oh, I should add that the longest I've had a Salad in a Jar in the fridge was 8 days (it was the one with pears), and it was still good... no sogginess or wilting of greens, though the pears and pepitas soaked all the dressing up.