Ellie Krieger
THE WASHINGTON POST – This lunchbox-friendly salad is layered into a clear container, so it looks like a work of art.
Feel free to vary the vegetables and proteins to make your own colourful creation. When you are ready to eat, pour the Italian dressing over the salad, reseal it (tightly!) and shake to combine, then eat it right out of the container.
LAYERED SALAD WITH ITALIAN DRESSING
INGREDIENTS
For the dressing:
– Six tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
– Two tablespoons vinegar
– One-and-a-half teaspoons Dijon mustard
– Three-quarter teaspoon honey
– Three-quarter teaspoon dried oregano
– Half teaspoon granulated garlic
– A quarter teaspoon fine salt
– Freshly ground black pepper
For the lunchbox:
– Half cup seeded and diced cucumber
– Half cup quartered grape tomatoes
– Half cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned
– A third cup diced mozzarella cheese
– One cup shredded romaine lettuce
DIRECTIONS
Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper whisk to combine.
You should get about half cup dressing; you’ll need two tablespoons for the lunchbox. Refrigerate the remaining dressing until needed.
Make the lunchbox: Place about two tablespoons of the dressing in a small container with a tight-fitting lid. Place the cucumber on the bottom of a tall, wide-mouth, three- to four-cup container with a tight-fitting lid. Top with the tomato, then the chickpeas, mozzarella and lettuce. Add more lettuce as needed.
To pack, place the salad and the dressing containers into a cooler-style lunchbox with an ice pack.
Right before eating, shake the dressing, then pour it over the salad. Re-cover the salad tightly and shake to coat the salad with the dressing.
