3 Easy Mason Jar Salads & 1 Soup
I think I’ve binge watched too much Jake and the Neverland Pirates on Netflix as of late. The song “Grab ‘Em & Go” got stuck in my head and seems to play on endless loop.
Grab ’em & go
Yo ho, yo ho
We found gold doubloons
Grab ’em & go
Yo ho, let’s go
We have so much more to do
I feel the same way about lunch. I’m always on the go, and I need to be able to grab a meal that’s quick and nutritious. Let’s grab ’em and go matey! I can prepare my meals in advance although I usually only have the weekend to do so, unless I’m grabbing leftovers.
I tried making lunch salads in advance in my regular stainless steel containers. The premixing of all the veggies seems to make them soggy and gross by the time you’re ready to eat them. There’s nothing worse than soggy salad, it’s like eating a mouthful of seaweed.
Are you still hungry?
My love of all things fresh for lunch, preparing in advance, and being a hoarder of mason jars all collided together into a wonderful rainbow of ideas. The trick lies in where how you layer your salad.
Easy Layering 101
Liquids (dressings) go on the bottom, followed by your protein (nuts, beans or meat), followed by a rainbow of veggies, and then your lettuce on top. If you’re opting for parmesan, or croutons, I recommend putting them on the very top (or wrap them in a small reusable bag & place on top).
I made 3 salad recipes, and one soup with added broccoli goodness for lunches this week. Yes, I missed a working day – and that’s because I treat myself to sushi one day a week. It’s a little perk of taking my lunch and what I look forward to!
Easy Mason Jar Chicken Caesar Salad
One of the first things my husband ever made for me was a kick butt chicken caesar salad. He stills makes the best one hands down! His trick has always been to use a high-quality Caesar dressing (we like Renees) and add red onions to help the flavour. After Crockpot Chicken night, it’s often what’s for dinner. It makes a terrific mason jar lunch too, that helps clean up those pesky leftovers.
Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients
DRESSING
- 2-3 tbsp caesar dressing
SALAD
- 1/4 red onion
- 2-3 tbsp real bacon bits
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 3-4 cups romaine or 2 cups romaine & 1-2 cups of mixed baby romaine
- 2-3 tbsp croutons
Instructions
-
Add dressing to bottom of the jar.
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Crop all lettuces and vegetables into bite sized pieces.
-
Layer ingredients according to their order.
Recipe Notes
Screw lid on mason jar to keep fresh. Salad will keep from 2-4 days.
Simple Mason Jar Bean Salad
Beans are a great budget-saving protein source, and one that we keep in our cupboards all the time. This little salad is reminiscent of my one of my favourite summer salads with a bed of greens. The dressing is really what makes it good – feel free to use your own favourite oil based dressing. My combination of olive oil and garlic is really simple. I have also used other types of vinaigrette on it for more of a flavour punch.
Simple Bean Salad
Ingredients
DRESSING
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic I used preserved
SALAD
- 1/2 can of mixed beans
- 1 cup cucumber
- 1/2 orange bell pepper
- 2 cups romaine lettuce
Instructions
-
Mix dressing together
-
Chop all vegetables and lettuce in bite sized pieces.
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Add all items in order they appear above.
Recipe Notes
Screw lid on mason jar to keep fresh. Salad will keep from 2-4 days.
Easy Mason Jar Green Chicken Salad
This one is leftover friendly! Grab the leftover protein (I used chicken) from the night before and layer in your favourite fresh vegetables. At my house, it’s almost always a fight over the cucumber. The possibilities on this one are endless from grape tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, snow peas, radishes, berries…. I could go on and on!
Easy Mason Jar Green Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp of your choice of dressing I used Caesar vingarette
- 2 tbsp walnuts
- 1 leftover chicken breast
- 1 cup cucumbers
- 2 green onions scallions
- 3 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup sprouts
Instructions
-
Chop vegetables.
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Layer all ingredients in the order they are listed.
Recipe Notes
Keeps in the fridge up to 2-4 days.
Easy Soup
I’m a fan of soup. Especially with the bitterly cold days of winter, a bowl can represent a lot of comfort on one of those days. The kind recently I like the most is Happy Planet – in my Easy Soup, I took a bag of their fresh Chilliwack Broccoli, added a little (ok, a lot) of parmesan cheese and a little more fresh broccoli.
The only question left to answer is – which one will you try first?
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a passionate recreation coordinator by day, crazy farm mama of two by night. i live outdoors: growing my own food, camping and hiking with my border collie with two active kids in tow. when I’m not writing, I’m experimenting with recipes, and crafts – or anything else that might keep the monkeys entertained.
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