Lunch in a Jar

I have been absent way too long. I've been so busy and pre-occupied with school and life that I confess I have lost my creative touch. I still spend plenty of time in the kitchen, but I haven't, until recently, created any new meals in a very long time.  

I've made many "new" meals from the numerous cookbooks that I own, along with Pinterest recipes and other bloggers recipes, but I haven't had the gumption to create my own, let along post anything here. Until just recently.

Recently, I posted on Facebook pictures of a salad I made for lunch and I stacked and packed more of the same in jars for the remainder of the week. It was such a hit, I thought I would share another version (with decent photos) here on It All Begins with Dirt.

These jars are simple to make and keep fresh for a week in the fridge when stacked properly. 

Start with your favorite dressing on the bottom of a quart mason jar.  For this salad, I made my own Tahini Lemon dressing and used about 1 1/2 TB in the bottom of each jar. 

From there you'll want to add the chunky veggies.  I added about 1/3 cup of each of: broccoli, carrots, and chickpeas. Shake these down as you go so it all fits in the jar.  Then I added (still about 1/3 cup each) layers of mixed red and white quinoa, chopped red bell peppers, peas, chopped dried apricot, pumpkin seeds  and then topped it off with as much greens as I could stuff down. If you don't like, or don't have these veggies, use what you have or like. It's very versatile.

Once it's all in there, top it with a lid and store them in the refrigerator. 

These are so easy to grab and go by themselves, or pack in a lunch bag or box.  When you're ready to eat, shake the jar really good to get all that dressing all over everything and dump into a bowl, or eat it directly out of the jar. 

Use your favorite recipe for Lemon-Tahini Dressing or here's one that I used:

Dressing

• ½ cup tahini
• ¾ cup water
• 1 lemon, juiced (about 2 or 3 tbsp)
• 1 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tb Nutritional Yeast (optional, but recommended)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Add this to a high-speed blender (like a NutriBullet) or whisk together until smooth. Keep any remaining in a glass jar in the fridge. 

Experiment with different layers and dressings.  The possibilities are endless!

Think: 

Taco salad with salsa on the bottom, then layers of guacamole, tomato,onion, peppers, corn, black beans, and spinach, topped with brown rice tortilla cut into pieces.

 OR

Asian salad with honey ginger dressing on the bottom layered with mandarin oranges, red cabbage, bean sprouts, sliced carrots, broccoli, red bell peppers, water chestnuts, snap peas and romaine lettuce, topped with sliced almonds and sesame seeds.

OR

Anti pasta salad with Italian Dressing, pasta, artichokes, black/green olives, roasted red pepper, chickpeas and endive with romaine lettuce, topped with pine nuts.

These are just a few ideas.  Have fun coming up with more!




Photo credits to Dave Howell at Photography Musings by Dave