Salad in a Jar

Two week old lettuce washed and packed on the same day- one in a plastic container the other in a vacuum-sealed jar.

I found this idea on Pinterest and I knew I had to try it. I have been trying to eat better but it seems that the better I try to eat, the harder it is for me to pack a healthy lunch. I don't have time every night to make a new salad and it seemed like if I packed them for the entire week, then on Friday they were just nasty. So when I found this idea, I was all for it. It works SO well!

I clean an entire package of 6 heads of Romaine Lettuce that I get from Costco (less than $5.00). I cut it with a plastic lettuce knife (highly recommended, it keeps the lettuce from browning so fast), spin it dry in the salad spinner, and package it into the jars.

The picture above has grated carrot in the bottom of the jars. I have tried vacuum-sealing the lettuce with broccoli and grape tomatoes but both of those get really gross by the end of the second week. So for now I'm sticking with carrots in the jars.

Once the lettuce is in the cleaned jars, I place the flat lid (without the ring) on the top of the jar and attach the Food Saver Wide Mouth Jar Attachment over the flat lid. I turn on the Food Saver and let it do it's work. I usually leave mine on anywhere from 30 seconds to one minute. When I take the attachment off, I check for a good seal by pulling on the flat lid gently. I then screw the ring onto it and put it in the fridge. From cleaning to last jar in the fridge is about 30-40 minutes; not bad for 2 weeks worth of healthy lunches.

In my experience as long as the lettuce is fairly fresh, the jars can last about two weeks. Each night, I add a small container of bacon bits, dressing, and other pre-cleaned veggies to my lunch bag and assemble in seconds the next day at lunch. I throw all the parts of the jar into the dishwasher.

There is nothing like a homemade lunch that didn't take forever to make!

Thank you Salad in a Jar!