Salad in a Jar

I really enjoy a good salad, especially at lunch. However, it can be a big pain trying to bring a salad from home.  If you put the dressing on in the morning, the spinach or lettuce leaves will wilt by the time you eat it. It’s terrible and disgusting when you  have wilted salad.

I’ve brought vinegar with me, but bottles get bulky and heavy in a bag.

Then I remembered seeing a brilliant idea somewhere online. I really wish I could remember where I had seen it because I would definitely thank the originator of salad in a jar. 

It’s a brilliant solution. All of your salad ingredients go into one tall glass jar and everything stays fresh. There is a trick to it of course. You can’t just throw the ingredients in all willy nilly.

Liquids have to go closest to the bottom. I started my first salad in a jar with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction, salt pepper and oregano. Then I added a healthy layer of chickpeas and then quartered cherry tomatoes. On top of all that, I placed a couple of thin slices of pancetta and then I tore up fresh spinach. I almost entirely filled my jar to the top. I left just enough space for a hardboiled egg sliced and dosed with a little salt and pepper.  Then I sealed it and put it in the fridge for the next day.

At work all I had to do was shake and eat. I chose to pour the salad onto a plate since I had filled the jar to the utter brim.

It was delicious and the spinach still amazingly crisp. When I go back to work after break I'm definitely going to have to try all sorts of variations and see how they come out.  

Recipe: Spicy Chickpea Stew

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp paprika

1 cup chopped ripe tomatoes (the ones I used were almost overly ripe)

1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tsp sugar

1 quart vegetable broth

salt and pepper
pasta

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat.

2. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic begins to brown (2-3 minutes).

3. Add the spices and cook for one minute.

4. Add the tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, sugar, broth, a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Stir well.

5. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Add more liquid if the broth evaporates too much.
6. Boil water with some salt. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

7. Crush about half of the beans and chickpeas, then stir the soup well before serving.
8. Pour the soup into a bowl and serve with a small helping of pasta on top.  Decorate with a sprig of parsley or basil (I didn't have either, so my plate had no decorations).



This came out absolutely delicious!  Thanks to Oh, Mishka for the wonderful idea!!
(spicy moroccan chickpea soup recipe)
I haven't been to the supermarket in ages so I had to get a little creative. I used Mishka's recipe as a base and then adapted it to what I had in my kitchen!   Next time I might add some potatoes to the mix as well. 
I ate it with a piece of foccaccia on the side with cream cheese to counter the spicy.  SOooo Delicious!!!

~Raspberry Truffle