Here's how it works. I wanted to keep our guests to about 10-12 so the ingredients were manageable. Each guest signed up to bring one ingredient in a large quantity to share for the group, plus as many jars as they wanted to fill. I made five simple homemade dressings - 5 minute recipes below - and bought some lettuce. We ended up with a beautiful selection of tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, peas, onions, a selection of nuts and seeds, dried cranberries and chickpeas. We set up an assembly line, and in just a few minutes we all had our jars made! 2-3T dressing goes in the bottom, followed by harder ingredients that won't get soggy, working in layers moving up. The ingredients with the most potential to get limp go at the top. If you have larger jars, you end with your lettuce or greens at the top layer. If you have smaller jars, your lettuce goes in a baggie or container on the side. I set out a marker and some small removable sticker labels so everyone could mark which dressing they used in each jar. I found my stickers at Publix years ago and I've been working my way through the box. They are so handy for making meals ahead, freezing meals and even just letting your family know what's stored in all those containers in the fridge. Plus they peel right off without leaving sticky residue on your containers. Amazon has some choices here.
When it's time to eat, you just put your lettuce on the plate, then dump out the jar on top and you've got a perfectly tossed, dressed salad. Yummy! With ingredients listed above, jars will keep fresh all week long in the fridge. We had some leftover smoked chicken from dinner the night before, so I added just a bit to my plate when I ate my salad. I don't recommend things like eggs, wet cheeses or meat inside the jars unless you're going to eat them the very next day.
Dressing Ingredients
Basic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4t salt - I prefer pink Himalayan
1/8t pepper
pinch of sugar
1t oregano (optional)
Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup balsamic or white balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4t salt - I prefer pink Himalayan
1/8t pepper
pinch of sugar
1t basil (optional)
Garlic Lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4t salt - I prefer pink Himalayan
1/8t pepper
1 garlic clove
pinch of sugar
Garlic Dijon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4t salt - I prefer pink Himalayan
1/8t pepper
1t dijon mustard
1 garlic clove
pinch of sugar
Skinny Caesar (labeled with fish and sheep cheese ingredients for any vegan guests)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4t salt - I prefer pink Himalayan
1/8t pepper
1 garlic clove
2t dijon mustard
2t Worcestershire sauce
1t fish sauce (or 1 anchovy or 1t anchovy paste)
1/4c Locatelli Pecorino-Romano grated cheese