It’s just as time consuming cooking for 8 as it is cooking for one or two. The best way to prepare meals in advance in case you’re cooking for one or two is using salads strategically layers into quarts sized mason jars. You can even buy the white plastic lids that are dishwasher safe and don’t fall through the gaps in your dishwasher! The secret is in the order, just saying, start at the bottom. And, if you’d like to add or cook some leftover chicken, go right ahead!

Asian Noodle Salad in Mason Jars

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Enjoy this salad straight from your refrigerator. The dressing makes it special and very flavorful!

Author: Linda Davis

Recipe type: Salad, make in advance

Cuisine: Califorian, Asian

Serves:: serves 8

Ingredients:

• Dressing:
• ½ C olive oil + more to drizzle
• ⅓ C low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ C rice wine vinegar
• ¼ C brown sugar
• 3 T Chopped fresh ginger (or ½ t dry ground ginger)
• 2 T Sesame oil
• 1 T (2 to 3) cloves garlic, pressed
• Salad:
• 8 oz. thin spaghetti
• 1 small bag sugar snap peas, cut in half crosswise, about 2 cups
• Half of a 6oz. bag baby sweet bell peppers, seeded and sliced thinly into rings (about 1 cup)
• 1 8oz. bag julienne/fine-cut carrots, cabbage (about 1½ cups)
• 1 8oz. bag julienne/fine-cut vegetables, cabbage, broccoli stems
• 6 C Baby spinach leaves
• 3 Green onions, chopped thinly
• 2 C Peanuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Begin bringing water in a large pot to a boil to cook the pasta.
2. Add all of the dressing ingredients into a quart jar with a tightly sealed lid.
3. Add the olive oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, ground ginger, sesame oil and pressed garlic.
4. Tighten lid and shake for about one minute and refrigerate.
5. To the large pot of boiling water, add pasta and cook the thin spaghetti to al dente according to the package directions (about 6 minutes).
6. Into a fine colander, drain, rinse and let cool.
7. Drizzle with less than a tablespoon of olive oil and toss to slightly wet noodles.
8. Set aside.
9. Open the bags of shredded vegetables, carrots and spinach.
10. Use a large funnel to help layer salad ingredients into jars.
11. Begin filling evenly, each of 8 containers, as follows:
12. T salad dressing mix, chopped snap peas, rings of baby bell peppers, small handfuls of vegetables and of carrots mixtures. Add handful of pasta, followed by spinach leaves, and chopped peanuts.
13. Close jars tightly and refrigerate.
14. Will keep, if refrigerated, for about 4 days.

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