The Fresh Market: Mason Jar Salads

Happy March and National Nutrition Month my friends! This month will be all about food- yummy recipes, restaurant reviews and even some giveaways. Since its nutrition month AND swim suit weather is just around the corner, we are going to focus on mostly healthy eating. Todays post is brought to you by The Fresh Market and is all about showing you how to have a weeks worth of easy, nutritious lunches. Wait…easy? Nutritious? Affordable? Sign me up!

One of the reasons why I teamed up with my best friend, Haley from HM Willow to host a Mason Jar Salad Party is to show our friends how easy it is to make healthy choices for lunch. Not to mention, this is a great way to save money. The average lunch will cost you $8-1$10 per day. Meanwhile, you will spend about $20-$30 on an entire weeks lunch materials and snacks. That’s about $1,547.50 a year in savings. This is just one of the many rewards of bringing your own lunch. By packing your lunch you are also in control of what you are putting into your body. And if you are doing these mason jars salads, you will consume about 300-500 calories (depending what you put into it) of clean food.

So how exactly do you throw your own Mason Jar Salad Party? It’s easy! You can simply tell your friends to each bring 1-2 ingredients to contribute and their own mason jars. I recommend telling your guest to buy the large mason jars (32 oz) because they will be a whole meal. If you do the small mason jars (16 oz), use those as a side salad with a soup or sandwich. As I hostess, I also recommend going ahead and making the salad dressings and quinoa at home for your guests. I have provided a few easy salad dressings I like to use in my salads at the end of this post.

Here is how you will construct your mason jar salads. Keep in mind you can pick up everything you need {as pictured above} at your local Fresh Market. Check out their wbsite to see where the location nearest to you!

Step 1: Put ~2 tablespoons of salad dressing first.

Step 2: Add ~1/4 cup of quinoa

Step 3: Add your toppings: carrots, edamame, beans, tomatoes etc.

Step 4: Add your greens: kale, mixed greens, spinach etc.

*I put about (~) before each estimation depending on how much of the ingredient you like in your salads

Leave room at the very top to mix your salad! Super easy! You want to make sure you do it in this order so nothing gets soggy in your salad. The quinoa is a great base because it will soak up the flavors of your dressings! Also, quinoa is incredibly good for you. Aside from being rich in protein, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, B vitamins, vitamin E, copper, zinc and dietary fiber, quinoa is also the least allergenic of all “grains,” according to “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods.” It’s both wheat- and gluten-free, so it’s an ideal choice for sufferers of celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Quinoa is also low on the glycemic index, meaning it doesn’t raise blood glucose and insulin levels (1).

Lemon Dressing Recipe (serves 16)

Skinny Balsamic Vinaigrette (serves 16)

1 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp. Garlic, Minced
2 Tsp. Honey
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Looking for specific mason jar salad recipes? Click here to see more under 400 calories recipe. Enjoy your lunch this week!

Xo,

Must buy blender