We know a lot of the veteran DIY’ers out there are going to scoff at yet another mason jar post but when it’s hot, it’s hot, and mason jars are still a thing.

But don’t worry, this isn’t a post about painting your mason jar gold and using it as a pencil holder, although we love that, and you may just get a post like that from us in the future! This is about using them practically for clean and healthy eating purposes.

It’s not a new concept to bring your lunch to work. Reusable containers have been around forever, but we love the new idea of using mason jars to store salad.

The best use we’ve seen includes layering the salad ingredients, including the dressing, all in the same container. This is usually unheard of, as we all know adding dressing to a salad is a sure fire way to have a soggy mess of a meal the next day.

But alas, there is a way to get it all in one place without ruining your meal!

By layering the leafy greens up top, with things like chick peas, mushrooms, or broccoli on the bottom (just above the salad dressing) you protect the delicate lettuce or spinach from wilting. The items in the middle don’t matter as much, so go for it. Creating the space between the dressing and the lettuce is the most important part.

The options are endless for what ingredients to use, and that’s what makes this even more fun. You can create a gourmet salad, one that you’d usually pay $12 for at your local take-out place, with everything you love for a fraction of the cost AND it’s easy to store for the week and bring with you to work.

Since it’s one item, you don’t even need a bag to bring it with you to wherever you are going. It doesn’t get much better than that!

-Sasha Huff