Mason jars are a great way to make a meal for one ahead of time. They travel well and stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week, which means you can make a couple at once and eat them over a few days, says Tracie Heasman. They’re especially good for kids’ lunches – just use a kid-friendly container instead of a glass jar if your child’s school doesn’t allow glass.
How to make the perfect salad in a jar
Always put the salad dressing on the bottom and your salad greens on top so that they stay fresh and crunchy – no more soggy lettuce!
Place items that will soak up the marinade next. Things like tofu, chicken, tuna, feta, cooked grains like brown rice or quinoa, etc.
Pack the veges down hard so that they don’t have much room to move if you’re travelling with it.
With all salads, it’s always good to have a protein (meat, cheese, beans, or legumes) and a healthy fat (olive oil, avocado, pesto, salmon, etc) because they both keep you full for longer.
When you’re ready to eat it, tip upside down into a bowl and all the salad dressing falls over the rest of the ingredients.
Kids’ layered salad
For the dressing:
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp sal
For the salad:
- 1 tbsp red onion
- 45g feta cheese, chopped into small cubes
- ¼ cucumber, chopped into small cubes
- 4 cherry tomatoes, chopped into quarters
- 2 – 3 leaves finely chopped lettuce
Mix the dressing ingredients, then pour into the jar. Then add the salad ingredients in the order above. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.
DIY 2-Minute Noodles
- 2 tbsp finely chopped red capsicum
- 2 tbsp frozen peas
- 130g egg noodles, cooked to packet instructions
- 1 tsp powdered stock or bouillon
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
Place all ingredients into the jar in the order above. When you’re ready to eat them, add boiling water and leave for two minutes. Eat while hot.
Blueberry Cheesecake
- 4 gingernut biscuits
- 1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp jam (any berry flavour)
- frozen blueberries
Place gingernut biscuitsin a small plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin, or chop to a fine crumb in a high-speed food processor. Place half the crumbed gingernuts into a small jar. Mix together the yoghurt and jam and place half the mixture on top of the gingernuts. Place 1 tbsp of frozen blueberries on top of the yoghurt. Repeat the process, starting with the gingernuts, to layer. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Tracie Heasman is a photographer with a passion for styling, shooting and eating food. She lives in Raglan with her husband and two children.
