Ramadan Hack: Salad Jars

• Wash and chop your choice of vegetables for your salad jars. It is also an excellent idea to rinse them quickly in a vinegar and water mixture (1 cup of vinegar in a sink of water) as this boosts freshness even more.
• Layer veggies as seen in the picture above, with items such as baby tomatoes, cucumber, onion, chicken, and olives at the bottom and leafy greens at the top.

Important Tips:

• Don’t add sliced tomato, avocado or anything that doesn’t ‘age well’ – i.e anything squishy.
• If you add dressings, put them in first i.e. at the bottom. You can also save adding the dressing for when you eat the salad.
• Never put green leafies at the bottom. There is a reason for layering in the order recommended.

Great ingredients for salad jars:

• Olives
• Cucumber
• Onion or spring onion (shallots)
• Carrots
• Celery
• Whole baby tomatoes
• Green, red, yellow bell peppers
• Red cabbage/green cabbage
• Green leafy veg: kale, baby spinach, lettuce, rocket, watercress.
• Herbs: coriander, parsley, basil

ADDING PROTEIN AND FAT TO YOUR SALADS:

Salad ingredients alone are delicious but will probably not leave you feeling very satiated and that’s where added healthy protein and fat come in. Protein helps us feel satiated, it digests slowly and helps maintain blood sugar levels. A leafy green salad alone will probably not fill you up or keep you feeling full for very long so adding protein is a great idea if you are eating this as a meal.

Pick 5 protein ‘adds’ for the week and get them ready ahead of time!

• Cook a pack of chicken breasts (you can use 1-2 for your salads and the rest for other meals, like sandwiches and wraps etc)
• Boil eggs (2-3 for you and extra for anyone else in the family who might be looking for a quick snack)
• Stock up on tinned or fresh tuna (baked)
• Stock up on tinned or fresh salmon (baked) or smoked salmon, mackerel or another fish of your choice.
• Beans are also great (1/2 a cup is a single portion) – black beans, red kidney beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas).
• Red meat is also an option for salads (cooked taco mince is delicious in a salad as is sliced lamb fillets)

Healthy Fats:

• Olive oil
• Avocado
• Nuts (almonds, pine nuts, walnuts etc.)
• Seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia etc.)
• Cheese (small portion) – I particularly like feta, cottage cheese and halloumi.

These can be made as single shake-out salads or you can make bigger family-size portions if you’re family is into salads too!

SHAKE, ADD PROTEIN AND FAT AND EAT!

That’s it – you’re all ready to go.

Source article: http://www.healthymuslimah.com/make-salad-jars-lifesaver-busy-sisters/