How To Pack Salad In A Jar

A few years ago, we grew a vegetable garden and I learned how to preserve the bounty in mason jars. Being the first year and a huge garden, I had to buy a lot of jars!  Now we don't garden as much, but I still have all those jars and always look for ways to use them!
Salad in a Jar is popular right now.  It allows you to pack up a variety of ingredients for a salad and quickly take it where you need to go.

One of my sweet hubby's food peaves is mushy lettuce. He just can't do it! So after a little research, there is a technique to pack a salad in a jar:  Here it is with a few tips to keep it fresh and crunchy.

• Start with salad dressing. By putting the dressing at the bottom, gravity will do its just and will keep it separated from the greens.   Therefore, no soggy greens.(YES!)
• Add your veggies. After the salad dressing, throw in your vegetables.  The harder more dense vegetables (e.g. carrots) should go first, then add the softer vegetables like peppers or tomatoes. The denser vegetables will not get soggy when touching the salad dressing.
• Add your leafy greens. This should take up at least half of the jar.  I like to use spinnach or kale. 
•  If you aren’t using packaged lettuce, then make sure it is completely dry before adding or else it’ll go bad.
• Put protein last.  This includes cooked meat,  grated cheese, nuts and seeds. The weight of these should help push down the other items to fit more in.
• Screw the cap on tightly and store in your fridge.

When you are ready to eat, just shake the jar thoroughly and you are go good to go.
 Tip: make sure to keep the jars upright to prevent the greens from getting into the dressing.