One of the best ways to ensure you’re eating healthy at work and to save money is to take a packed lunch to work with you. Preparing your lunch the night before means you can grab it out the fridge on your way out the door (ideal if you’ve slept through your alarm). Instead of throwing empty jars in the bin, save them to use as your portable portion controlled lunch box. Layering up your salad in a jar is much more appetising than a Tupperware and making your food look good has been proven to make it taste better.

Layering the jar

To layer up your jar always start with the dressing as it will help cover the salad in the dressing when you turn it out onto a plate. If you add the dressing later then some ingredients that you want to stay dry might get soggy. Mix up the dressing you’re using depending on what you’re serving it with but some of our favourites are a French, balsamic, yogurt and tahini dressing.

The next layer should be a vegetable that is a little robust and may benefit from marinating in the dressing such as sweet potatoes. Bear in mind that the foods lower down the jar need to be able to withstand the weight of the food that is put on top of them so save the more delicate veggies for nearer the top. Finish with the leaves and herbs which will help stop everything else moving around in the jar.

Make sure you’ve got a good balance of protein such as cheese, meat, fish, tofu, beans or lentils, healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds or avocado, lots of colourful veggies like peppers and sweet potatoes, and leaves like spinach or kale.

Flavour combos

Here are 3 of our favourite jar fillings including a fish, veggie and vegan option but feel free to use whatever you have in your fridge or leftovers from dinner the night before.

1. Fish – a yogurt dressing, kale leaves, cubes of cucumber, brown rice, a handful of edamame beans, leftover roasted salmon, a sprinkle of The Food Doctor Super Seed Mix, filled to the top of the jar with watercress and parsley.
2. Veggie – a balsamic dressing, cubes of cooked butternut squash, slices of beetroot, brown rice, a handful of crumbled feta, The Food Doctor Raw Power Mix, filled to the top of the jar with spinach leaves and mint.
3. Vegan – a tahini dressing, leftover roasted cauliflower, thinly sliced pepper, halved pieces of falafel, pomegranate seeds, filled to the top with leaves and coriander.