Mason Jar Monday: Rainbow Salad
- Lena
- Jun 13, 2016
- 1 min read
Life isn't always about eating out, especially during lunch. It's both a time and money-saver to bring your own lunch, and it can be fun, too. I'll be featuring some of my own mason jar lunches here to inspire you all to save your money during the week--if only so you can splurge over the weekend.
The trick to successful mason jar lunches is layering, since the reason you're meal prepping in one day and carefully transferring your food into these jars is so that each one stays fresh through 'til Friday. It's an easy formula to follow:
Top layer: Greens and other leafy, delicate items
Grains (quinoa, barley, rice, etc)
Protein (chicken, beef, turkey, tofu, etc)
Small toppings (raisins, craisins, sunflower seeds, cheese, croutons, etc)
Soft or absorbent toppings (celery, cucumbers, diced tomatoes, etc)
Hearty toppings (grape or cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, peppers, etc)
Bottom layer: Dressing
By separating your dressing from your delicate items, you prevent the dreaded soggy lettuce phenomenon, and are left with a crisp, crunchy salad day after day.
Now, for my rainbow salad, I started with a homemade balsamic dressing (like this one from Epicurious), then layered in grape tomatoes, diced yellow and orange bell peppers, peeled and diced cucumbers, chopped celery, chickpeas, craisins, sunflower seeds, a blend of quinoa and brown rice, and topped with mixed greens.
Have you tried mason jar lunches? Let me know how they work out! I'm always up for new recipe suggestions, too, so don't be afraid to spread the love!
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