Burrito salad in a jar

As the later months of the year roll around, it’s time to change your thinking around food. Pop the slow cooker to the back of the cupboard, and break out the salad bowls. Food is about to get fresher, crunchier and lighter!

For those of you who struggle with easily-transportable lunch ideas to take with you – how about trying to make your own salad in a jar? Carefully layered, these can be prepared ahead of time, and are an excellent way to help with your meal planning.

They are equally good as dinner and will help you get all the vitamins and fibre you need in your diet.

Firstly, make sure you have several clean 1-3 cup capacity glass jars (depending on your appetite). These can easily be old peanut butter jars, or preserving jars.

Start with your dressing and make that the first layer at the bottom of the jar. Usually salads are dressed just before eating, but not this time.

Next layer hard vegetables or ones that will benefit from marinating in the dressing (think onions, mushrooms, radishes, carrots and the like). Next layer softer vegetables (sprouts etc). Lastly, pile your salad greens into the top of the jar. If you are making several days worth of salads at once, leave out protein and add it on top of the salad greens on the day.

When you are ready to eat your salad, simply open the jar and tip it on to a plate. Out first will come your greens, and last out will be the dressing. Voila! Lunch or dinner in flash!

Burrito salad in a jar 

Ingredients:

• • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • juice and zest of one lime, or 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
  • 2 large chicken breasts
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 2 pieces of thick cut bacon (optional)
  • 1 large kumara, washed, with both ends cut off
  • 3 cups chopped lettuce
  • 5 tablespoons plain Greek yoghurt
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Instructions:

Quinoa:

1. 1. Add the quinoa, 2 cups water, and salt to a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When it has reached a boil, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the quinoa is soft and fluffy.
   2. Set the quinoa aside to cool.
   3. When it has cooled, add the lime juice, lime zest, and the cup chopped coriander and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Taste, and add more lime as needed.

1. 1. Dry off both chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels, and season both sides of each breast using the 2 teaspoons of salt.
   2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil or over medium-high heat until the oil is very hot.
   3. Add the chicken breasts to the hot skillet, and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Both sides should have a pretty brown sear to them.
   4. When the chicken breasts are cooked all the way through, remove them to a cutting board to cool. Once they’ve cooled, cut the chicken into small chunks, about 1/2 square inch each.

1. 1. If you’re going to add bacon to your salad, cook 2 slices of bacon as you normally would, until it is crispy enough to crumble.

1. 1. Cut up the kumara into tiny chunks, about 1/2 square inch each.
   2. Roast the kumara for 20 -25 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool.

1. When all ingredients have cooled, you can begin to assemble your burrito bowl salads. Add 1 tablespoon of plain yoghurt to the bottom of each mason jar.
2. Top with about 2 tablespoons of sweet potato cubes.
3. On top of the sweet potatoes, add 3-4 tablespoons of the quinoa.
4. Layer 1-2 tablespoons of cheese over the quinoa, a little less than half a piece of bacon over the cheese, and a layer of chicken over the bacon. (To make this vegetarian, substitute 1 can of rinsed beans for the chicken and bacon and add a layer of beans here.)
5. Fill the remaining space in the mason jar with lettuce, and sprinkle some extra chopped coriander if liked on top before screwing on the lid.