Thanksgivng Salads in Jars

 For the last couple of years, Shonna has often made Mason jar salads for the week- six or seven each week.  Pre-COVID, she was part of a group that would each make enough salads of one kind for everyone else in the group, then meet on Fridays and exchange them, everyone going home with seven different jar salads to eat for their lunches.

Shonna enjoyed those salads so much, that she has continued making seven jar salads each week during COVID, for herself.  She shares one with a widowed friend and another with a new mom.  She then has a salad to eat each day for lunch.  I will be publishing some of her recipes on here.  She has her sisters doing this, too, so some of the pictures come from her and some from them.    

Kristen made this recipe for Thanksgiving Jar Salads.  She sent me the pictures.  She said it was delicious.  She didn't have the grain, so eliminated that and used dried cranberries instead of fresh.  I personally think it would be good with cubed turkey or chicken added, too.  Shonna said that this was one of the salad recipes that she created.

Thanksgiving Salad

6 Quart Jars

Put about 1/3 cup of each ingredient in each jar, putting the 1st ingredient in the bottom, then work up:

Millet: (3/4 cup raw, cooked with 1 1/2 cup water.  Simmer for about 20 minutes)

Cranberries (2 cups fresh, boiled with 1 1/3 cup OJ, 1 tsp cinnamon, 4 T maple syrup.  Once it boils, add the cranberries and simmer for about 3 minutes.  You don't want a sauce, but you want cooked berries)

Roasted cauliflower- 1 head divided among the 6 jars.  You can rice this in your blender, or chop.

Roasted, diced yam chunks, (2 large yams, divided among the 6 jars)

6 roasted Brussel sprouts in each jar

Roasted, diced butternut squash ( 1 squash, divided)

2 cups mixed green

Toppings: feta cheese and roasted pecan halves (2 cups pecans divided among the 6 salads)

Cranberry Orange Dressing

Simmer the cranberries and then strain in a fine sieve over a blender.  So your base is about  1 cup oj with cinnamon and maple.  Add 1 tsp Dijon, scant 1/2 tsp REAL or sea salt, 1/2 tsp pepper or 12 grinds.  Blend for a few seconds, then while it's blending add 3 T olive oil to emulsify.  Pour into separate containers and add to salad when ready to eat.

Kristen said she loved these salads so much that she is making them again next week.  

Watch for more jar salad recipes.  I will be posting them over the next while.