Recipes: Make Mediterranean Salad in a Jar for easy lunches

Bright, hearty, and endlessly practical, these Mediterranean Salad Jars are the kind of meals that make healthy eating feel easy.

Inspired by the classic flavors of the eastern Mediterranean — lemon, parsley, chickpeas, feta and olives — these jars layer the ingredients in a beautiful rainbow for a portable lunch or quick picnic dinner that stays fresh for days.

The secret to a good jar salad is the order of the ingredients: dressing on the bottom, sturdy grains and beans in the middle, and delicate greens safely tucked on top. That way, everything remains crisp until you’re ready to dump it into a bowl and chow down. Protein-rich chickpeas and fiber-filled bulgur make these jars surprisingly filling, while fresh herbs and lemon keep every bite vibrant and refreshing.

These jars bring together convenience and nourishment in one colorful package. In fact, my friends and I made a couple dozen of them last week to share and deliver to a friend who was recovering from surgery, and seeing them lined up in the fridge felt like a burst of sunshine. Meals like these remind me that food can do more than nourish us — it can brighten a week, lighten someone’s load, and quietly build community, one jar at a time.

Mediterranean Salad in a Jar

Yield: Makes five quart-sized jars

Equipment: Five wide-mouthed quart-sized jars

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups raw bulgur

3 cups boiling salted water

½ cup olive oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

½ cup chopped parsley

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 English cucumber, chopped

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

⅔ cup chopped kalamata olives

DIRECTIONS

Place the bulgur in a bowl or saucepan. Pour the boiling salted water over the top, cover and let sit for about 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and let cool completely. To speed this up, spread the bulgur on a baking sheet.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Divide the dressing evenly among the five jars.

Layer the ingredients in each jar in the following order: bulgur, parsley, chickpeas, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, romaine, feta and olives. Secure the lids and refrigerate.

To serve, simply remove the lid from a jar and turn it upside down to release the salad into a bowl. Consume within 5 days.

Registered dietitian and food writer Laura McLively is the author of “The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook.” Follow her at @myberkeleybowl and lauramclively.com.