Hand-Me-Down Salad

HAND-ME-DOWN LUNCH IN A JAR

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup diced cucumber

1 cup beans or peas*

½ cup chopped red onion

6 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

1 tomato, diced

4 marinated artichoke hearts, drained, cut into quarters

4 oz. feta cheese

4 16 oz. wide-mouth canning jars, with lids

Whisk the red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and oregano together in one of the canning jars. Bottled Greek dressing also works well.  Divide the dressing evenly among the jars. Layer the cucumber, peas, onion, lettuce chicken, tomato, artichoke hearts and feta evenly in the jars in the order given. Cover with lid and refrigerate until serving. To serve, turn out onto a chilled salad plate.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Hand-me-down lunch is just another way to say “left-overs”.  Layer leftover fresh vegetables in a jar with whatever pieces of meat or cheese that is handed down from the last meal.  Just try to layer like food in the order listed above.  Be creative with your leftovers and voila, instant lunch.

*Any kind of beans work well, also frozen green peas are good.  For a tastier garbanzo bean, make your own. It’s easy. Place the following ingredients in a crock pot:

1 cup dry chick peas, 3½ cups water, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, ¼ tsp. pepper, ¼ tsp. chili powder, ¼ tsp. celery seed, ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 1 Bay leaf. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,