Time-Saving Summer Salads

Packing Up the Fresh Flavors of the Season in Glass Jars

While packing a lunch is always a good idea—to save money, to eliminate lunchtime decision-making stress (this is a real thing—you and I know it), to understand exactly how, and with what, your lunch is made—no season is better for lunch-making than summer.

With so much gorgeous produce available at our farmers markets and farm stands, the possibilities are practically limitless, and as summer gloriously marches on we can keep mixing up ingredients as the harvest evolves.

In early summer, we look to the first-available vegetables like radish—in this case, the sweet and crisp watermelon radish, worth seeking out for its unique flavor and stunning color—and rainbow-hued carrots. Later on, we’ll turn our attention to tomatoes and corn, and still later, as summer wanes, we can utilize winter squash and apples.

Glass canning jars are environmentally friendly, easy-to-fill, reusable storage options. Pour the dressing in first and pack the greens in last to help keep the greens from becoming soggy, and eliminate the need for a separate dressing container.

As local ingredients change through the season, try these salad ideas:

• Spicy mustard greens with quinoa, grilled tofu, sliced peaches, almonds, scallions and honey-mustard dressing (made with 2 tablespoons each honey and olive oil, 4 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard and fresh thyme).

• Coarsely chopped Romaine, corn and ripe tomatoes, black beans and grilled cubed local swordfish, with cilantro-yogurt dressing (made with 2 cups plain yogurt, 2–3 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro, the zest and juice of 1 lime and 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot).

• Arugula with grilled zucchini, summer squash and eggplant, coarsely chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and a drizzle of good-quality olive oil.

A few tips for packing your salad to go:

• Start with the dressing on the bottom, then top with any grains, beans or sturdy veggies like carrots, beets or radishes.

• Place less-sturdy vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, cucumbers and blueberries atop the sturdy vegetables before topping with proteins like chicken, fish or tofu.

• Bump up from 1 pint to 1 quart canning jars for more greens or other ingredients; wide-mouth jars are easier to pack and unpack.

• Leave some headspace if you want to shake and eat, otherwise, transfer your salad to a plate or bowl.

• Salads keep in a tightly sealed jar up to 5 days, making them a good option to prepare on Sunday to carry you through to Thursday.

Total: $17.70; or $4.43 per salad