Instead of our usual sandwiches, I assembled salads in jars for our backroad Saturday outing. There are so many ideas and variations but I used an Italian theme simply because of the ingredients I had on hand. The ideas are limitless. The ingredient list is vague as I just added the amounts we wanted and assembled them in the order I preferred—there are no rules except to start with the dressing and then to place a durable food ingredient on top, one that can marinate without becoming soggy.
Note: I first made these salads-in-a-jar in quart jars but that is a lot of food. Now we make them in wide-mouth pint jars.
Salad-in-a-Jar, Italian-style
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Creamy Italian Salad Dressing –homemade or commercial version with added chopped fresh herbs: rosemary, parsley, basil & oregano (or used dried Italian seasoning)
Chopped cucumbers with salt & pepper added (about 1 small)
Chopped tomatoes with salt & pepper added (about 2 medium)
Cannelini white beans, drained (about half of a 14.5 oz. can )
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
About 3/4 cup cooked pasta (a smaller sized variety; I used small shells)—after cooking marinate in several tablespoons of extra Italian Salad Dressed
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup uncured hard salami cut into halves or quartered
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
About 16 pitted kalamata olives
Additional baby spinach leaves
Sprinkling of additional Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Advance Preparation: Make the salad dressing and cook the pasta and allow it to marinate in some of the salad dressing.
Salad assembly: Assemble jars in the order of the ingredients listed above, dividing ingredients among 2 jars.
Storage: Store jars in refrigerator until ready to eat. May be assembled the day before eating.
Final Preparation: Before eating, shake jars to distribute dressing.
We took our Salad-in-a-Jar to one of our Saturday outing—this one to Wilson Lake. Here's Barry shaking the salad to distribute the dressing on our picnic.
Recipe without photos:
Salad-in-a-Jar, Italian-style 2 quart-sized servings / cut amounts in half for pint jar
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Creamy Italian Salad Dressing –homemade or commercial version with added chopped fresh herbs: rosemary, parsley, basil & oregano (or used dried Italian seasoning)
Chopped cucumbers with salt & pepper added (about 1 small)
Chopped tomatoes with salt & pepper added (about 2 medium)
Cannelini white beans, drained (about half of a 14.5 oz. can )
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
About 3/4 cup cooked pasta (a smaller sized variety; I used small shells)—after cooking marinate in several tablespoons of extra Italian Salad Dressing
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup uncured hard salami cut into halves or quartered
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
About 16 pitted kalamata olives
Additional baby spinach leaves
Sprinkling of additional Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Advance Preparation: Make the salad dressing and cook the pasta and allow it to marinate in some of the salad dressing. Chop tomatoes and cucumbers and season with salt and pepper.
Salad assembly: Assemble jars in the order of the ingredients listed above, dividing ingredients among 2 jars.
Storage: Store jars in refrigerator until ready to eat. May be assembled the day before eating.
Final Preparation: Before eating, shake jars to distribute dressing.
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