Salads are often the go-to lunch when it comes to healthy eating. They usually offer a huge amount of vegetables and nutrients, and leave you feeling full (if big enough) after you eat them. Salads are often seen as the ultimate health food, whether truthfully or sarcastically, and are often recommended by health coaches, nutritionist and dietitians and doctors as a healthy way to eat more vegetables, improve health and lose weight.
The problem is that salads are not always easy to make for lunch. Unless you work at home or have a kitchen in your office, having a salad for lunch might not be feasible. And even if you do have a kitchen, you might not have the time to make one. Most salads, especially the super healthy ones with tons of vegetables, also involve ton of chopping to get of that variety in the mix. You could always head out for lunch, again if you have time, but buying lunch every day can be expensive and the ingredients might not always be the best for you or what you want to eat that day.
In order to save time, have a salad that tastes good and keep some money in your wallet, you can make salads ahead of time. This might sound like a no-brainer or a very simple and boring plan, but it can make all the difference. Unfortunately, it can also totally backfire and you may have tried it before with lackluster results. Making a salad ahead of time can sometimes taste less than fresh, be a bit soggy, or leave you with messy dressing leaking all over your salad, lunch bag or even your car, fridge or desk. If your salad doesn’t taste good, you aren’t going to keep making it and it will be harder to stick to those healthy recommendations throughout your day. Luckily there is an easy, cleaner and more satisfying way. This way is also quite different than you may have tried in the past.
To make better salads, that don’t leak, get your lettuce soggy or feel stale after a few hours, or even days, in the fridge you can use a glass Mason Jar. These jars seal tightly, so you won’t have spills and, if you have environmental concerns, are made of glass and not plastic, so there are less chemicals to leak into your food as it sits in the fridge. I use mason jars for my juicing, to drink out of, to store my homemade granola and to make salads for the week. With a jar, there isn’t room for your ingredients to wiggle around, so you don’t have to worry about things getting soggy or wilted, or spilling out of your snap and seal bowl. The jars also stay upright, and won’t spill if they do tip over accidentally. They also don’t take up much room in your refrigerator, so you can store them with ease.
To make your salads, grab some ingredients, stack them up wisely, using a good mix of proteins, healthy fats and fiber to keep you full and satisfied, and stack from the bottom of the jar up. Below are a few of my favorite salads to make ahead and have all week long. They can be made for an entire week in less than an hour (think briefly on Sunday afternoon while you catch up on your favorite show or listen to some tunes), and are mostly just chopping and placing into the jar. You’ll start with sturdier ingredients and build you way up to the lighter ingredients, such as lettuce.
Make Ahead Mason Jar Salads:
A Little Bit of Everything Salad
1 tbsp (all natural) vinaigrette
1/2 cup grilled chicken or cooked tempeh, cubed
1 large carrot
1/4 cup broccoli florets
4 grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small cucumbers
1 tbsp nitrate-free turkey bacon (optional)
1/2 head lettuce
Chickpeas and Greens
1 tbsp favorite (natural) vinaigrette
1/2 can chickpeas
1/2 cup broccoli florets
2 small cucumbers
1 head lettuce
*optional 1 tbsp nitrate-free turkey bacon or soy bacon
Tempeh Rainbow Salad
1-2 tbsp organic ranch dressing (I made my own with Greek yogurt, organic mayo, and an organic ranch dip packet)
1/2 package of tempeh, cooked
1 purple carrot
1/4 cup broccoli florets
1/4 cup orange or yellow bell pepper
4 grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small cucumber
1/2 head lettuce
Put it all together:
Start with the first ingredient and add it to your jar, keep going down the list, ending with your lettuce. You’ll want the dressing on the bottom with some heavy duty items that can with stand absorbing a little of it. Your lettuce and softer items should be on top, so they don’t wilt. Pop a top on your jar and place it in the fridge until you are ready to eat. These will keep for about 5 days, so you can make a salad for each day or your work week, making lunch or dinner to go simple and healthy.
When you are ready to eat, simply shake up your jar. Empty your container into a large bowl and enjoy. You can also eat straight from the jar if you are looking to save space and dishes.
I use large mason jar (quart size), but you can also use a pint or 1/5 pint sized jar, depending on your salad need. You’ll just need to adjust to make the ingredient fit to your jar.
Ready to build your salads? Grab the Salad in a Jar guide, which breaks down exactly what you need to create endless “”salad in a jar” recipes, from the bottom up.
Enjoy!
