Salad Making Shortcuts ( Make Ahead Mason Jar Salads)

Want a shortcut to make it easier to make a salad? This method is such a huge time saver !
Did you ever think if the salad were made, I would eat it?- but were too lazy or tired to make one.

Sunday night has become salad night in my house. It is the night I not only make a big colorful salad for dinner, but while I already have all the veggies out, I  also make my salads for the entire week!  One mess 5 salads!. (yes, the salads stays very fresh for the week, and I'll tell you how).

If you are like me, I love to eat healthy salads but I don't always feel like making them, especially at the end of a long day. Let's face it, it can be messy washing, peeling and cutting all the produce that goes into the salad. I usually don't want to make that mess every night, so I found a really helpful solution.

I shop on the weekend and on Sunday late afternoon ( or evening) , I wash, peel, chop, etc. all the produce that I just bought. I then make a large bowl of delicious salad for dinner plus I fill eight  16 oz mason jars with layers of salad chopping as well.

Four of the eight salad jars will be for my lunches - Monday through Friday ( I usually eat out once during the week). The other four salad jars will be our dinner salads ( there are just two of us so I use the medium jars. For a family, you could use a larger 1/2 gallon size Mason jars.

Mason jars will keep these salads fresh, crisp, green and delicious for up to 5 days!

Do you know how great it is to open the refrigerator and have a healthy tasty salad already made ready for your lunch or dinner? In addition, I don't have packages of produce that spoil because I waited too long to use them.  All my salad produce is prepped the day I buy it!

These are my lunch salad jars . 

In the 4 Mason jar salads that are intended for my lunch,  I  layer in some cooled chick peas, cooked black beans, avocado etc. ( if you are not vegetarian- add chicken, turkey, sliced egg etc)  This way my lunch is a complete meal. I add salad dressing just before I eat it or if I'm taking it with me, I put on the dressing just before I go out.  It is so convenient, healthy, and ready whenever I am. That is the most important part!

The following ingredients are a sample of the raw veggies I use for my salads.
Of course you can substitute the veggies that you like in the proportions you like.


Author: Judee Algazi
Prep Time: 30 - 40 minutes ( for the entire week of salads) 
Needed: 8 mason jars

Ingredients:
1 bag of organic romaine lettuce ( 3 heads- and I use two of them)
1/2  small head of red cabbage, washed and chopped
2 containers of cherry tomatoes, washed
2 packages of Persian cucumbers ( 5 to a pack) - the small cucumbers, sliced
1/2  bunch of organic kale - washed and chopped
1 package of sliced white mushrooms ( raw)
3 red peppers, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 orange peppers. chopped
3 organic carrots ( I grate mine)
optional: sprouts or fresh herbs like chopped basil, mint, oregano, scallions etc.
optional: chopped apple, chopped orange, radishes, etc.
** I don't add onion in advance- ( add to the jar before eating)

Directions: 
Wash, peel, clean all of the veggies. Chop and divide between 8 clean Mason jars and 1 large bowl of salad for dinner for that night. Store Mason Jars in the refrigerator and use within 4-5 days.

My chopped salad sprinkled with 21 Salute Salt Free Seasoning from Trader Joe's dumped for dinner from the jar

Whether I go to work or am at home, I am glad to have a prepared salad. I eat my salad right from the jar at lunchtime, or for dinner, I just toss the salad  into a bowl!

I get my Mason Jars here:

Ball Mason Jars Wide-Mouth Can or Freeze - 16 oz 12pk

They are so worth the investment and aside from canning , they can be used for so many things:

• Storing seeds, nuts, etc. and really keeping them fresh
• Salad in a jar for a week
• Cut up fruit and store in the Mason Jars in the fridge
• Storing soup, freezing soup stock ( need a special mason jar for freezing)
• Cut up cucumber sticks, red pepper sticks, celery sticks,  ready for snacking
• overnight refrigerator oatmeal  ( see recipe and tutorial) 
• And much more

Once you have Mason Jars , you won't know how you lived without them,  you can use them for so many kinds of storage and they keep them really fresh! 

Use a small Mason Jar to make overnight refrigerator oatmeal ( ready in the morning to just grab and go!)

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Read my other article : Lunch in a Jar

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