To prepare, divide ingredients among three 2-cup capacity glass canning jars in this order: 1/ 2 cup spaghetti, ¼ cup edamame beans, 1/3 cup carrots, 2 tablespoons onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon basil, 1/3 cup chicken, 1 cup spinach and 1 tablespoon peanuts.

Please note that all these ingredients actually add up to a little more than 2 cups, so you’ll need to push salad makings down into the jar, as needed, to make room.

To serve, remove lid, invert jar and dump onto plate or eat straight from the jar. May be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

How to Layer a Jar Salad:
Dressing Layer: Salad dressing should always be the first ingredient poured into the bottom of a jar salad. Let your taste buds be your guide. Choose from basic homemade oil and vinegar or one of the many delicious salad dressing options from Litehouse Foods such as Lite Honey Dijon Vinaigrette or Sesame Ginger. Simply changing the dressing along with a few key ingredients can give your jar salad a whole new flavor personality.

Grains and Protein Layer: The key to choosing the best ingredients for this layer (you might have several) is to understand that those nearest the bottom will be marinating in the dressing until you are ready to unscrew the lid and dig in. Toss in some quinoa, brown rice or whole grain noodles to sop up the sauce and then top with some muscle-making meat, poultry, tofu chunks or even hard-boiled eggs.

Hearty Produce Layer: Choose any combination of veggies that won’t get soggy or limp if the dressing sloshes up prematurely. Cherry tomatoes, artichokes hearts, cucumber slices, radishes, mushrooms, broccoli florets and other non-leafy veggies are tasteful additions. Get creative and experiment with non-oxidizing fruits such as grapes, mandarin orange segments and berries. This is also a great time to add Litehouse Foods Instantly Fresh Herbs; the proximity to the dressing combined with the moisture from the produce seems to bring these freeze-dried herbs back to life.

Leafy Delicate Layer: Add your favorite lettuces, greens and delicate items near the top. Spinach, arugula, romaine, kale, cabbage are all winners and along with unexpected ingredients, such as alfalfa sprouts, give your jar salad lots of crispy crunch.

Amazing Extras Layer: Give your jar salad an extra pop of yum with a thin layer of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, crumbled bacon (gasp) or scrumptious cheeses. Litehouse Foods has a delicious selection of handcrafted cheeses perfect for sprinkling atop any salad including rich and creamy Blue Cheese Crumbles and tarty and salty Feta Cheese Crumbles.