High protein vegetarian jar salad recipes needed

Diet and exercise go together. We all know that. I’m finding this to be even more true than I realized. I want to work out every afternoon, but because I don’t have good lunches prepped, I wind up nibbling random stuff and not having enough in the tank for a good workout.

Jar salads caught my attention a long time ago; I had half a dozen Mason jars in Tampa for just this purpose. Unfortunately, I never used them. I’ve been collecting yogurt jars for a few months now. It’s time to put them to use.

There is an embarrassment of riches in these recipes online. A couple of times I stocked the kitchen with things listed in general formulae for jar salads, but continued to nibble, and a bunch of them got pitched. What I really need are a couple sure bets. I’ll put them together mechanically, and be so happy when I have them ready to go at lunchtime. I don’t need super high protein, but higher than your average Caesar.

What are your favorite recipes for jar salads?

6 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I am not a salad eater, but ohmigosh: I got this haute cuisine Mexican cookbook with a salad recipe I’ve become addicted to. The recipe calls for purslane, an avocado lime salsa, roasted chickpeas, and puréed chickpeas. I’ve been faking it because purslane is not a thing, lol (I do intend to send away for seed tho). But so good!

ETA: Sorry! Not chickpeas: White Kidney beans. I have chickpeas on the brain.

Anonymous

Never heard of them-but good timing now that the Invisalign are done!
I suppose this is my karma for introducing my coworker to Etsy yesterday
*buys 5 mason jars and a c'ton of salad ingredients*

elpgal

Protein: cubed tofu, Indian paneer, chickpeas, red quinoa, black bean
Crunch/healthy fat: bacon bits, sunflower seeds, pepitas, almonds, olives, avocado
Leafy stuff: spinach arugula, broccoli slaw
Veggies: red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, cubes, tomatoes

I prep all these and load up a jar everyday. I stuck to balsamic and Tessa Mae dressings (whole 30 approved).

Jules

Honesty just about combination of sweet (dried or fresh fruit, roasted beets), nuts and/or seeds, and cheese will be tasty and can be quite filling. I find feta cheese to be pretty versatile for these, but chèvre or blue cheese also work. Smoked cheddar, pecan/walnut and sliced apple is a good combination.
Another formula is vegetables plus chickpeas (or another preferred legume) and boiled egg. Greens with grated carrot, chickpeas, sundried tomato and egg is a good one.
Hey Racheylou, around here purslane is sometimes available by surprise in my garden, or alternately sold off a blanket on the sidewalk in Chinatown! I haven’t actually tasted it.

Oh, maybe I should try an Asian market...! Never thought to find it in one. Dang. I don’t suppose I could try a Mexican market as well. Thx!

Purslane grows in the cracks of my sidewalk. Seriously it is everywhere. If it weren't for herbicide/pesticide residue, I would happily eat. I reluctantly pony up $4 for a tiny bunch at our farmer's market.

Fashintern, try playing with the online ordering systems of Cava, Sweetgreen or Chopt etc for ideas. If you get lucky, you might even get the nutritional content info.

LAR101

Active Member

FashionIntern,

I happened to pull this book, Vegan Meal Prep by JL Fields, from the library last week. I briefly skimmed it then and I think you might be interested.

Turns out the words: ‘Vegan Meal Prep’ seem to be a secret code for a Google Search into the topic.

Good Luck!
Linda

https://www.amazon.ca/Vegan-Me.....038;sr=8-1

Helena

elpgal broke down a great salad formula!

I am vegetarian-ish (meaning I don't prepare meat for myself but I'll eat it if I'm served it or there's not really another option) - I always have quinoa, eggs, canned beans, tofu and nuts on hand to throw in salads for lunch for a quick shot of protein.

Ok first attempt at this! I'm being an ambitious cook today

This weeks is a Latina version:
Cilantro dressing -Trader Joes
Shredded carrots
Red peppers
Quinoa
Lettuce-romaine and herb blend
Black olives
Avocado (supposedly putting olive oil on them prevents browning)

They look nice anyway-hopefully they'll hold up!

Planning a sweet version for next week:
Thai peanut dressing
Apple
Lettuce
Spicy & sweet pecans
Goat cheese

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Stagiaire Fash

LAR, exactly. Those words (or similar, since I’m not vegan) are the key to the rabbit hole warren I posted from! Starting to find my way out now, maybe, with this first effort.

TG, yep, those are frequently listed in the sites I mentioned in my original post, and yep, elpgal gave pretty much the classic formula, a combo of all the ones I’d been looking at.

Suntiger, thanks for sharing!! Those look good. How did the oil + avocado work out? I had given up on this thread giving me anything other than what I had started out saying I had too much of—lists of “all sorts of possibilities” and yet more options and combinations. That was making my head explode so I backed off. And look what happened in the meantime :). I came back to post what I’d figured out and there’s you with just the right stuff. Thanks for posting 2 recipes.

I finally decided that since I’d been intending to make salad Nicoise forever and meaning to get going on jar salads even longer, I should put my salad nicoise in a jar. I found several recipes on line, cheated on the dressing by using mustard dill sauce that cake with my smoked salmon as the base, and ta-daaaah. My son was nonplussed. I pointed out how long I’ve been talking about doing this and he said “you’re going to eat them? I thought you were taking out compost” No nicoise for him! (He didn’t want it anyway). Lol.

Anyway, Bon Appetit!

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Day 3, and the avocado is still ok, very slightly browned at edges is all. Thanks for the idea

L'Abeille

I wasn't sure if you were looking for actual recipes rather than formulas... you got so many responses that I bowed out. But here are 3 of my faves (I see you have salade Nicoise covered now).

1. Greek style salad: feta cheese and white kidney beans or chickpeas; tomato, cucumber, onion +/- peppers or celery; lemon and olive oil vinaigrette; basil or oregano (can add pasta)

2. Mexican style salad: corn, black beans, salsa and/or tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, lime (can add rice or pepitas)

3. What I think of as a chop salad or winter salad: what I have of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, green apple; cubed cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds; raisins or craisins; mayonnaise

Thanks L’Abielle! Those look yummy, especially the second one. I miss Mexican food (American style), can probably make a decent pico de gallo to go in there. I know a lot of people on here don’t understand what i mean, am not sure what I do beyond putting the question, in short form, in bold print. Thanks for coming back.

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