Layered Salad in a Jar

Name: Layered Salad in a Jar
Yield: serves 12
Ingredients: 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 medium lemons); 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar; 2 tablespoons mild honey; 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled; 1 pound orzo pasta; 1 (16-ounce) bag baby greens, spinach, arugula, or romaine; 5 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced; 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved; 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped; 1 cucumber, coarsely chopped (with peel); 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled; 1 tablespoon dried oregano, or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves; 1/4 cup pine nuts

December 14, 2011

I love the simplicity of individual salads in jars. Make the salad, toss it in an ice chest, and off you go. Once you arrive at your destination, the salad is ready to eat right out of the jar. Alternatively, you can skip the jars and toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

Recipe information

Yield
serves 12

Ingredients

Dressing

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 medium lemons)

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons mild honey

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 pound orzo pasta

1 (16-ounce) bag baby greens, spinach, arugula, or romaine

5 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

1 cucumber, coarsely chopped (with peel)

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 tablespoon dried oregano, or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts

Preparation

Step 1
TO MAKE THE DRESSING: In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, and olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the feta. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 2
TO MAKE THE SALAD: In a large pot, cook the orzo in salted water according to the package instructions. Drain and run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking. Put the orzo in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 cup of the dressing. In a small bowl, stir together the green onions, tomatoes, olives, and cucumber. In a separate small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup feta and the oregano.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the pine nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until golden, about 5 minutes; set aside. (Keep checking; they burn easily.)
Step 4
TO ASSEMBLE THE LAYERS: Have 12 (1-pint) wide mouth canning jars with lids ready. Spoon 1/3 cup of the orzo into the bottom of each jar, and follow with 1 layer each of the following: 1/4 cup green onion-tomato-olive-cucumber mix, 2 teaspoons feta-oregano mix, and 1/2 cup packed greens. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the dressing on top of each salad and sprinkle each with about 1 teaspoon of the pine nuts. (You will have some dressing left over for another use.) Top with lids and refrigerate until needed. To serve, shake the jar to distribute the dressing.
do it early
Step 5
The dressing and orzo can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and refrigerated. Assemble the salad in jars up to 6 hours before it is to be served. Keep it cold until serving time.

Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved. A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances. Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.

TagsSalad Orzo Pasta Feta Cheese Dairy Leafy Greens Vegetable Cherry Tomato Tomato Olive Side Dinner Gluten Free Vegetarian Summer Cookbooks

Recipe information

Ingredients

Dressing

Preparation

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

do it early

Step 5

Recipe notes