Salad in a jar

Ingredients

carrots
cucumber
capsicum
red onion
green onions
olives
feta cheese
quinoa, cooked
baby spinach
basic vinaigrette or balsamic dressing

Method

Cook quinoa as per packet directions. Peel and chop vegetables. Cut feta cheese into cubes.

Prepare dressing or vinaigrette.

Take a clean, large jar with a tight sealing lid (a preserving jar or Mason jar works well).

Add 3-4 tbsps of dressing to the bottom of the jar. Begin to place ingredients into the jar, starting with the hardest vegetables, like carrots and cucumber, and ending with the spinach.

Seal the jar with a lid and refrigerate. This will last 3 days in the refrigerator.

Tip jar ingredients into a serving bowl and toss to coat in dressing.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Please do not use a glass jar if you are using this recipe for children to take to school. A plastic container is a much better option.
This recipe does not contain quantities as this will depend on what you are adding to your salad and how many salads you are making. The above ingredients are just a suggestion.
The reason you begin with the hardest vegetables is that these will sit in the bottom of the jar with the dressing. The dressing will pickle these ingredients so it is important that they are the most robust.
If you prefer to keep your dressing on the side, your vegetables will stay crisp and crunchy.
I used quinoa in my jar but you can also use couscous or burghul (cracked and pounded wheat). Mixed lettuce leaves and rocket will also work well in place of the spinach.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.