Mason Jar Salads

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:

1. Dressing first, so that it stays on the bottom
2. Wet veggies, like cucumbers and tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes work well for this)
3. Moisture resistant veggies, like carrots and radishes
4. Protein such as meat, pasta, beans or seeds
5. 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.