olives

Greek Salad in a Jar

Are you a brown bagger? Meaning do you bring your own lunch to work? I definitely do.

It’s a money saver: $10 a day x 5 days = $50. $50 a week x 52 weeks = $2,600 saved a year (per person).

It controls your calorie intake: you’d have to pack a really big lunch to consume a restaurant portion of food.

It shortens the work day: you’re not stepping out for an hour to find your food and eat it.

And it’s much less wasteful: no oversized portions you can’t finish or carry out containers that end up in the trash.

Most people cringe at the idea of bringing leftovers to work or are not motivated in the morning to make themselves a sandwich before they walk out the door. Because of the work week, the brown bagger has made lunch the most boring meal of the day. This troubles me because food should never be boring.

In an effort to keep things interesting, I’m always switching up our lunch plan for the week. I can’t even remember the last time we had a sandwich! I particularly like to get creative with salads and really enjoyed this one. By layering the ingredients, nothing gets soggy, and it travels in a Ball jar (I love that!). I put this together while making dinner and it was ready for grab’n’go the next morning.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup orzo
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup tomato, diced
  • 2 tbls chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tbls red-wine vinegar
  • 2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup cucumber, halved lengthwise, cored, and diced
  • 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, slivered
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 1 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 3 tbls fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbls finely chopped oregano
  • 2 to 3 cups coarsely chopped romaine
  • 1 cup feta, crumbled
  • 4 to 8 peperoncini

Directions

  1. Cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain well.
  2. Toss black-eyed peas, tomato, and parsley with vinegar, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Marinate, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, toss together orzo, remaining tablespoon oil, cucumber, olives, onion, lemon zest and juice, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
  4. Divide black-eyed-pea mixture (with juices) among jars and layer orzo salad, romaine, and feta on top. Add 1 or 2 peperoncini to each jar.