I have seen a lot of recipes for mason jar salads, and since I eat salad for lunch nearly every day, I thought I would see how they work. I must say that I was surprised at just how fresh the ingredients were after so many days (one week) in the fridge. My salads usually only last a few days before the lettuce starts getting those ugly orange and brown spots.
I really like being able to cut up and assemble the ingredients ahead of time and then take one out of the fridge, mix it up and eat it. Such a time saver during the week.
I am not putting a recipe in this post because there are not many limitations when it comes to these, as long as you put them in the jar in the right order. I use the quart sized jars because usually this is all I have for lunch, so I want to get as full as possible and the pint sized jars just would not be enough for me.
I assembled mine this way:
- Dressing first, so that it stays on the bottom
- Wet veggies, like cucumbers and tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes work well for this)
- Moisture resistant veggies, like carrots and radishes
- Protein such as meat, pasta, beans or seeds
- Greens
I really like the idea of being able to store fresh veggies for a longer time in these jars. I will be experimenting to see what veggies last longer and store well in the jar. I have tried fresh spinach and it stayed good a lot longer.
These are the jars that I used.
This is how mine turned out.
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