Recipe: Mediterranean Salad Jars
The wonderful Danijela from Nourish & Tempt has shared this deliciously simple, nutritious, make-ahead lunch recipe that will be perfect for the warmer months ahead.
Danijela is a culinary-trained NZ-Registered Nutritionist, who shares nutritionally-considered recipe ideas on her digital platforms nourishandtempt.com and instagram.com/nourishandtempt. I’ve had the pleasure of photographing Danijela, her culinary creations and her products multiple times now and I gain so much inspiration every time.
This recipe is going to be my go-to for easy summer lunches, I personally never feel like anything too heavy when the weather is hot and it’s a great way to pack in a bunch of vitamins!
If you enjoy this recipe, then high tail it to her website and check out not only more recipes but her Plan, Prep, Eat ebook that this recipe derives from and her magnetic fridge meal planners.
Mediterranean Salad Jars
These Mediterranean salad jars are packed with freshness and flavour. They’re a convenient make-ahead lunch that you can easily grab from the fridge whenever you’re in need of a quick and delicious meal. You’ll need three 700ml large glass jars for this recipe.
Ingredients
Salad
1/3 heaped cup of dried orzo
1 can (400g) of chickpeas, drained
12 cherry tomatoes
1 Lebanese cucumber
1 capsicum
75g of cow’s milk feta cheese
18 olives
1 ½ cups of baby rocket
3 sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
Dressing
¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of runny honey
½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon of dried oregano
¼ teaspoon of table salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Method
Boil a pot of water on the stove. Add the orzo and cook for about ten minutes. Be sure to time it accurately; orzo absorbs water and expands, so if you remove it too soon, you’ll have less than desired. It should be slightly under one cup when cooked for 10 minutes. Drain and let it cool, or rinse quickly with cool water to speed up the cooling process.
Cut the cucumber and capsicum into bite-sized pieces.
Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar, secure the lid, and shake vigorously. Divide the dressing evenly among three large glass jars (around 700ml), using a little over 2 tablespoons per jar.
Layer the olives and sliced sun-dried tomatoes at the bottom, followed by the chickpeas and orzo. Crumble in the feta cheese. Add the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum and top it off with the baby rocket.
Seal the jars tightly with their lids and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy.
When serving, pour the contents into a bowl, ensuring you drizzle out all the dressing. Season with a few turns of the salt and pepper shakers and mix thoroughly. Taste test and adjust by adding more vinegar for extra zing or additional salt and pepper as needed.
