Are you guilty of filling your schedule until it’s bursting at the seams? Many people have been trying to make up for all the vacations, sports events, and day trips with friends they may have missed over the past couple years. Additionally, many people are regularly heading into the office and school is back in-person for everyone! Add in sport leagues and everyday activities, and it can feel like your schedule has never been busier. We’re here to help you find balance and ensure that no matter where life takes you, you have healthy meals & snack options at your fingertips.
Greens on The Go –
When you’ve got a million things on your plate, it’s tough to put together a meal that will satisfy both your cravings and nutritional needs. It can be extremely temping to roll through the drive-thru for dinner on your way to hockey practice or ballet class. With some of the year’s hottest salads, and our perfectly portable Mini Munchies® Snack Sized Veggies, we hope to make it easier to give your body what it needs to handle your crazy schedule. With Pure Flavor®’s greenhouse grown fruits & vegetables available year-round, you can continue making meals with fresh ingredients through the winter months!
Our salad jars can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days, making meal prep a breeze. Ingredients like Juno® Bites Red Grape Tomatoes, Uno Bites™ Nano Cucumbers and iceberg lettuce retain their freshness in sealed containers like mason jars. Here are a few best practices to remember the next time you make salad jars: slice or dice ingredients so they are similar sizes and try to pick resilient produce if you’re planning to store the salads in the fridge for a few days. These protein packed salads will get you through anything from long work meetings, to after-school playdates, or waiting to pick up your kids from basketball practice. Check out some of our favorite on-the-go salads that are fresh, healthy, and customizable to what you enjoy!
Nourish Salad Jar –
If you’re looking for an easy way to get into meal prepping, this Nourish Salad Jar is for you. It’s easy to double the quantities in the recipe to feed a large family, or meal prep for additional days. This salad isn’t bland like some other meal prepping recipes you may have seen online; the Asian fusion dressing works well with Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers and Sangria® Medley Tomatoes to make a bright and delicious lunch or dinner.
This salad is easy to prepare, requiring some chopped vegetables and pantry staples for the dressing—it can take you as little as 15 minutes to make! It’s well worth the time investment plus the chickpeas and quinoa are packed with plant-based protein and carbs to fuel your busy day. If you or your family play sports, this is a great meal to help you conquer game day and can easily be brought to the field.
Grab-and-Go Chicken Salad –
If you spend your days wrangling toddlers and carting them off to various activities, this Grab-and-Go Chicken Salad is made for you. With familiar flavors like grilled chicken, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing, even the pickiest pint-sized eater would dive right into this salad. It’s quick & easy to pull totogethaer, here’s how: simply halve the Juno® Bites Red Grape Tomatoes, slice the Uno Bites™ Nano Cucumbers, and dice the rest of the ingredients so they are similar sizes and layer them up. The best part of this fresh salad is how easily you can customize this simple recipe to your liking! If you’re looking for a little kick, try adding Buffalo-style hot sauce or chili flakes for a little heat!
Grilled Southwest Chicken Salad –
If you find yourself grabbing your lunch from restaurants where you build your own burrito bowl, this salad is for you. While our friend Heather Englund suggests a delicious array of toppings for this salad—including Sangria® Medley Tomatoes, black beans, grilled chicken for a punch of protein, creamy avocado, and sweet corn— the chipotle ranch dressing will bring out the southwest in almost any ingredients. Make it your own by layering your favorite ingredients!
This vibrant salad does double duty; take our advice and make it for a weeknight dinner and then pack it in jars for lunch later in the week. This salad has all your bases covered; not only is it loaded with protein, but also fiber and micronutrients brought by the variety of vegetables in it. If you’re worried about your family getting all their daily vegetables in, you should add this salad to your on-the-go rotation.
Stack your Veggies –
Not all salads are created equally. While the above salads are easy to put together, a lot of thought was put into how to best include fiber, plant-based nutrition, carbohydrates, and fats. If you want to have a salad for lunch or dinner, it’s essential to include these components so that your salad is both nutritious and filling. Here’s how:
- Stack the vegetables in your salads to ensure you get the vitamins, minerals and fiber you need—go beyond greens! For example, peppers are rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C and iron. By adding tomatoes too, you can up Vitamin C and lycopene—a powerful antioxidant.
- Healthy fats are simple to include as well; healthy oils like olive oil are great additions to salad dressing. Ingredients like avocado and cheese can beef up the fat content and up the flavor.
- Carbohydrates can get a bad rap, but they are essential in making your salads filling. Grains like quinoa, bulgar, and couscous are excellent bases to salads because they are also packed with plant-based protein and fiber.
Where to Next?
Your health is a worthwhile investment.
By fuelling your body with what it needs, you will have more energy to tackle the challenges your day throws at you. Eating nutritiously when you’re always on the run isn’t easy, but we hope to make it more manageable with these straightforward & delicious recipes. By having them packed and prepped in advance, it’s as easy as grabbing them before heading out the door to ensure that you can make good, healthy choices no matter where you are headed.
With year-round access to greenhouse grown vegetables, you always have access to fresh no matter the season. Make it a family affair and enlist everyone to chop or dice the ingredients, which can make meal prep day a breeze! You never have to miss out on those essential vitamins and minerals.
For more healthy salad inspiration, check out Summer of Salads or sign up for the Pure Flavor® monthly newsletter.
