It can be a hassle to think of how to spruce up your packed lunch to school or work every day. Most days, it probably consists of leftovers or a basic sandwich that you whipped up in under five minutes. Some days, we crave for something more and it is unfortunate that we might not have time to run down for a takeaway lunch.
But there are so many things that you can whip up in 10-15 minutes for your meal(s) the following day and all you need is some vision and creativity. We experimented on a few ways to spruce up a healthy salad meal and came up with these very simple recipes that you can do with a jar.
Here are 2 Easy Salad in A Jar Recipes To Prepare For a Meal For School or Work.
We have included 2 recipes, one vegetarian and one with meat. The inspiration for this simple salad dish derived from looking at coloured stones and sand that are beautifully stored inside ornaments and mason jars and layered nicely.
Then we thought, why not do it with salad? It is a no-brainer for sure, and if you want to have your own take on this dish, we recommend you to put the heaviest ingredient right at the bottom, so that the vegetables will not sink in or be squashed.
COUS COUS SPICY CHICKEN SALAD IN A JAR
What you need:
1 cup plain cous cous
1 piece chicken breast
onion powder
chilli powder
turmeric
salt
pepper
basil
1 box cherry tomatoes
1 serving of baby spinach
1. First, prepare the cous cous by boiling 1.5 cups of water in a pot. Once the water is boiling, add in cous cous, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and stir. Cover the pot with lid and remove from fire. Let it sit and steam for approximately 5-7 minutes.
2. Marinate chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of onion powder, chilli powder and turmeric. Add in 1-2 pinches of salt and season with black pepper. You can do this process the night before for more intense flavours. Bake in oven until cooked through – approximately 10-12 minutes.
3. Once cous cous is cooked through, add in a small handful of baby spinach. It is important to not start fire again as we do not want the spinach to wilt; we want it to still be crunchy. Taste your cous cous – if it is not salty enough, add in one or two more pinches of salt. Add in about 5-6 halved cherry tomatoes. Set aside.
4. Remove chicken from oven once done, let it cool then slice it up.
5. Put in the cous cous first, then add in a layer of baby spinach. Add in your chicken slices then add in more spinach and top off with whole cherry tomatoes.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH FARFELLE SALAD IN A JAR
What you need:
1 cup of farfelle of choice (we used a beetroot one)
1 serving of baby spinach
1/2 carrot
1 box of cherry tomatoes
1 slice of butternut squash
salt
pepper
1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and put them back into pot with no heat. Add in a dash of olive oil, one pinch of salt and pepper and a handful of shredded carrots and baby spinach. Set aside.
2. Cube your butternut squash, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and cook inside oven for 10 minutes until soft.
3. Plate your pasta first, then spinach, then your cubed butternut squash, and top them all off with halved sautéed cherry tomatoes (or whole ones if you prefer).
5-MIN SPICY PLUM DRESSING
What you need:
plum sauce
chilli oil
sweet chilli sauce
red chilli
salt
garlic seasoning
corn flour
1. Dice red chilli roughly and throw them in a pot with 1 tablespoon of plum sauce, 1 teaspoon of chilli oil, 1.5 tablespoons of chilli sauce, one pinch of salt and garlic seasoning over low heat.
2. Let the sauce simmer for awhile then add in 1/2 tablespoon of corn flour to thicken.
3. Sieve out the sauce after turning off heat and dispose of the chopped chilli. Serve.
When you reach your school/ office, you can also lump the whole jar of contents onto a bowl for easy eating.
*We used 900ml glass jars with a handle. You can find these at any leading supermarkets.
About the writer:
Cheryl is a staff writer for ladyironchef. She loves a good steak and an even better cuppa. She eats just about anything and everything. In her free time, she regularly starts on sci-fi or fantasy movie marathons.