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Spelt Jar Salads | On The Go Nutrition

Posted July 14, 2019

Tagged: Grain Salad | Lunch | Maria Speck | Mason Jar Salad | Nature's Legacy | Nutrition | Pintrest | Salad | Spelt | Spelt Berries | Whole Grain 

By Nature's Legacy on April 8, 2016 in Cooking Tips, Health, Recipes

I know you’ve seen them countless times all over social media – those mason jars full of salad. There’s a reason those jars filled to the brim with all types of brightly colored veggies are so popular – because they really are that convenient, easy, filling, tasty and good for you!!

All Pinterest-inspired preparation methods aside for a minute, adding spelt to your salads is one of the best ways to add a TON of whole grain goodness to your diet. Spelt berries add some amazing texture, nutrition, and taste to your typical salad. Quickly and easily, they turn your everyday salad ingredients into a hearty meal you will look forward to eating {instantly upgrading that boring old salad}!

Filling several mason jars at a time with spelt and your favorite salad ingredients allows you to simply grab one from the fridge and go – making it easy to have a healthy and nutritious meal when you are at your busiest.

To prevent all of your beautiful ingredients from getting soggy from the dressing, think in layers. Here’s a stand by formula to use when packing your jars:

1.    Favorite Dressing (1 – 2 tbsp)

2.    Crunchy/Hard Veggies (and/or beans)

3.    Spelt Berries

4.    Nuts/Cheeses/Seeds (and/or hard-boiled egg)

5.    Soft Veggies

6.    Lettuce

To assemble several jars, make about 2 cups of spelt berries in your rice cooker and let them cool. Then line up your jars, chop up your favorite veggies and start layering! I also like to use this method to use up the odds and ends I have in my fridge (like that half a pepper from last night’s stir-fry). Using a large 32oz jar will allow you to make a salad that I find large enough for two people to share. I like to pack in the protein with a hearty layer of spelt berries and lots of extra nuts/seeds and cheese so I find the 16oz or 24oz jars are often the perfect size for one. Use what are considered ‘wide mouth’ jars, they makes layering in all of your ingredients that much easier.

If you need a little inspiration to get started on making your jar salads, here are a couple of fun layer combinations {pictured above}:

Fattoush Spelt Jar Salad:

1.    Fattoush Dressing (find it in the Mediterranean section at your grocer)

2.    Cucumbers and Cherry Tomatoes

3.    Seasoned Spelt Berries & Chickpeas (mix spelt berries and chickpeas together with a ½ tsp of olive oil and some za’atar)

4.    Feta Cheese

5.    Romain Lettuce

Garden Spelt Jar Salad:

1.    Annie’s Green Garlic Dressing

2.    Broccoli – Yellow Bell Pepper – Cherry Tomatoes – Chickpeas

3.    Spelt Berries

4.    Parmesan Cheese

5.    Baby Spinach & Arugula Mix

What are some of your favorite salad combinations? How often do you make jar salads? Share your creations with us #BakingWithVitaSpelt and #BakingwithNaturesLegacy we can’t wait to see what you make!