Easy Salad Jars!

Well, I have recently had a couple of friends have babies and I wanted to bring them something, so I thought about what I would want and this is what I came up with.  The main criteria was for it to be healthy and nutritious for both baby and mama cause I know they are going to need the energy and sometimes the typical heavy lasagna is not exactly the best pick me up meal!  

Also, I thought about the fact that dinner is easy to pick up or order in but breakfast and lunch sometimes go overlooked and without those two meals you can't possibly keep up with breastfeeding and sleeplessness.  Therefore, I decided to do the breakfast oatmeal jars and lunch salad jars :)  The other great thing about these is, like the oatmeal jars, you can make them ahead of time all at once and then just grab them on the go throughout the week.

Base Recipe:

Cook a large batch of quinoa (or whatever pasta you desire... cheese filled spinach tortellini, whole wheat penne or brown rice would also be yummy).  All of these ingredients below are available at Trader Joe's and are very reasonably priced!

Version 1: Caprese

1. Add a large spoonful of premade pesto to the bottom of your jar

2. Spoon in your cooked and cooled quinoa about 1/3 of the way full

3. Add a handful of organic cherry (or pearl) tomatoes about another 1/3 of the way full

4. Spoon in your drained mozzarella balls the last 1/3 of the way full

5. Top with fresh torn basil and drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top

* Cover with mason jar lid and refrigerate up to 5 days.  You can either just shake these up right before you eat or empty them into a bowl or even toss on top of a bed of spinach and add a little more olive oil, balsamic salt and pepper, to taste.  Also, you can make these whatever size you want, big or small!

Version 2: Mediterranean

1. Spoon in your cooked and cooled quinoa about 1/4 of the way full

2. Add a small layer of canned sundried tomatoes with a spoonful of the juice

3. Add a small layer of artichoke hearts

4. Add a small layer of kalamata olives

5. Add a small layer of chick peas

6. Add a small layer of goat or feta cheese that you crumble yourself (it's creamier that way)

7. Top with arugula and drizzle with olive oil

* Cover with mason jar lid and refrigerate up to 5 days.  You can either just shake these up right before you eat or empty them into a bowl or even toss on top of a bed of arugula and add a little more olive oil, balsamic salt and pepper, to taste.  Also, you can make these whatever size you want, big or small, and if there are any ingredients in this one that you don't like you can totally omit them :)