Sushi Mason Jar Salad

Sorry I have not been around. I was in California and then lost my internet for a week but life is back to normal. Well my crazy normal!! We are still enjoying having our mason jar salads on hand. We have learned a few things though. About half the time we are finding the romain lettuce wilts in three days, so now we use broccoli slaw first. It is very hardy or you could keep the dressing in another small container. This salad was inspired by the salmon sushi my girls love. Just before eating we add sliced avocado and torn up pieces of toasted seaweed. I love the crunch it adds to the salad!!

 

Sushi Mason Jar Salad

sushi dressing*

broccoli slaw

sliced romain lettuce

snow pea

sliced carrots

green onions

smoked salmon

avocado, this is not added until you eat the salad

toasted, salted seaweed, not added until you eat the salad

 

Layer starting with dressing and working your way down the list.

 

* Sushi Dressing

1/4 cup of mild tasting oil, I used hemp

a few drops of toasted sesame oil

3 TBL rice vinegar

1 TBL soy sauce

ground pepper

fresh ginger juice to taste, ground fresh ginger into a paste and squeeze out juice.

wasabi paste to taste

 

Mix all together, taste and adjust to your liking.

 

Double Pepper Italian Jar Salad

This weeks mason jar salad is a version of an Italian chopped salad. Of course you could use a zillion different things like olives, tomatoes, artichokes, etc. but this is what sounded good to me. I really love the roasted pepper vinaigrette. A tip I learned from my mother, who make the best salads in the world, make sure you use a good amount of salt in your vinaigrette. It balances the acid!! Remember this salad will keep in your fridge a good four days. Ready to go, when you need it!!

Double Pepper Italian Mason Jar Salad

Roasted red pepper vinaigrette *

broccoli slaw, a note we have discovered over time that the slaw is best as a base veggie. It last the longest.

romain lettuce, cut into pieces

sliced mushrooms

sliced fresh bell pepper

salami, small cubed

Parmesan cheese

fresh Italian parsley, chopped

 

Layer the salad starting with vinaigrette and ending with parsley. Give a good shake to distribute the dressing.

 

*Roasted red pepper vinaigrette

1 large piece of roasted pepper, chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup olive oil

juice of half a small lemon

a small garlic, finely minced

salt and pepper

Whisk all together, taste and adjust to your palette.

Mason Jar Salads

    A confession!! I hate chopping up veggies. I do not know why. It just seems like a tedious process I guess. We do eat a lot of salads for dinner but I keep them very simple, like good greens, dressing and maybe some cheese. Both hubby and I have been wanting to eat more salads for lunch but I know myself, it just will not happen. I came upon the idea of making salads ahead of time in a jar and thought it was rockin. You put the dressing on the bottom, add the hardier veggies first (over time, we have discoved the blocclie slaw holds the longest and is best as a base veggie) and the stuff that would slime out faster on top. They last a few days in the fridge, so you can make several at one time.

This is such a win-win idea for so many reasons.

1, if you are busy it is done. You just grab and eat.

2, you can please everyone because each person puts what they want in their jar. For example, I like to have a theme, an idea of what flavor I am going for but hubby just throws in what he likes. Which is fine, just not how I roll.

3, I think it is budget friendly. Well that is if you resist the expensive french cheese, which is hard for me to do :-)

4. lastly it is a healthy way to get nutrition into your system. It is not just the veggie. There is good fats, oils in dressing, protein (which is why this salad has a hard boiled egg) seeds, and so much more.

    To keep me motivated (and hopefully inspire you) I plan on once a week or so to post a new salad for a while. This week's salad is a lemon Greek salad. Of course tweak it to what you want but I hope I motivate you to eat more salad because it is all in the jar!

 

Greek Jar Salad

lemon dressing*

capers

broccoli slaw

thinly sliced fennel bulb

thinly sliced radish

romain lettuce torn into pieces

chopped kalamata olives

crumbled feta

chopped hard boiled egg

 

Layer in jar starting with dressing and working your way down the list.

 

 

Lemon Dressing

grated peel from the lemon

juice half small lemon

1/3 cup olive oil

finely chopped small garlic clove

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

 

Mix all in a small jar and shake. Taste and adjust to your liking.