I have always wanted to make a “Mason Jar Salad” but never quite got around to it or had the right supplies. I happened to be home a few weekends ago, and found it to be the perfect opportunity to make these End of Winter Rainbow Mason Jar Salads. Since my dad has always been a big gardener as well as canner, I had all the supplies I needed.
One of the great things about a mason jar salad like this, is that you can mix up the ingredients to your liking, and you can go wrong! The most important thing is to put the dressing in first and any of the more wet ingredients towards the bottom. Anything that you want to stay dry or that might go bad you keep towards the top.
The dressing was very simple to make: just combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, raspberries, black pepper, onion powder, thyme, salt and water in a blender.
When I layered my ingredients, the quinoa went right on top of the dressing letting it soak in nicely, but without touching the rest of the ingredients. The quinoa is hearty enough that is can sit in the dressing and not get soggy like some of the other ingredients.
As I was assembling my jars, I realized I should have used the bigger size! As you can see, I had no room left for my greens. So I would recommend using a little bit of a larger jar. What I ended up doing was just bringing a small container of greens and pouring the contents of the mason jar over the top!
I just love how the colors look when they are all layered together!
Once I had everything layered, I sealed them up and was ready for the week!
End of Winter Rainbow Mason Jar Salads
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
Dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup frozen raspberries, heaping
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp salt
Salad:
- 1 ½ cups quinoa, uncooked
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 large carrots, grated
- 2 granny smith apples, cored and diced
- 2 containers of blueberries
- 1 cup of shelled pistachios
- 6 oz goat cheese, crumbled
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 5 oz mixed greens
Instructions:
- Cook quinoa according to package directions
- Combine ingredients for dressing in a blender until evenly combined.
- Set up 8 mason jars, and divide the ingredients evenly between the jars. Layer in the following order: Dressing, quinoa, chickpeas, bell pepper, carrots, apples, blueberries, pistachios, goat cheese, scallions, and mixed greens.
- Toss together prior to eating. Lasts up to 5 days in the fridge.
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