Cut it out! Salad doesn’t belong in a jar
For years now, you’ve seen them on Instagram, Pinterest and who knows what other platforms: lettuce in a jar, or – very hip – salad in a jar. I thought it was a joke, something like peanuts in a bottle (from the Christmas gift basket) or wine in a pouch, but that ostrich politics didn’t help one bit. Salads in jars are everywhere, and I do have a few questions.
1. To start with: those jars
Those mason jars are jars from a fancy brand. Hip, hipper, hippest, but why, exactly? What’s the difference between an average jam jar or pickle jar? There are also mason jars with a handle (think: beer mug), with a lid you can stick a straw through (big question marks on my end), and you can use them as lampshades too. And for your salad, of course. Do you blame me for not getting it?
2. Why do you want to be able to eat salad everywhere and always?
Have you ever been sitting on a train and thought: a few bites of quinoa with green mango, spinach leaves and goat cheese would really hit the spot right now? I haven’t. Eating on public transport is a bit of a thing anyway, but suppose you really don’t have time for lunch—why would you spend fifteen minutes at home chopping and slicing, then carry a salad around in a heavy glass jar for a few hours, only to eat it on the train? I mean: a currant bun takes about a minute.
3. Salad is only delicious with dressing
The salads in the pictures look like those bottles of sand art you used to buy with your pocket money on holiday: a layer of kidney beans, a layer of avocado, a layer of bell pepper—all those colours. But a salad is only delicious once you mix everything together with a good dressing. So how does that work in those jars? Of course it doesn’t, because then everything gets soggy and you can’t carry it around in your bag for hours anymore (see previous point).
4. How do you eat this?
If you eat it on the go, you’ll also need a fork to fish all the corn kernels, chia seeds and bulgur out of the jar. That’s going to involve a lot of rummaging, because those jars are packed full to the brim. Or do you turn your salad jar upside down over a plate and then eat it? If so: why all those decorative layers? In short: questions, questions and no answers.
5. And how fresh does it stay?
Cubes of fresh tuna, some wakame salad, white rice, avocado, soybeans, cucumber, some nuts and a sip of miso dressing: a delicious salad. But is putting it in a jar and taking it with you really a good idea? How long does it stay deliciously fresh, and at what point does mould start growing in the jar? Wouldn’t it be better to make a salad like that and eat it straight away, instead of putting it in a decorative jar? You know what: make it, photograph it and eat it—otherwise all those delicious ingredients are going to waste.
Read also:
- Recipe: the perfect salad with watermelon and mozzarella
- 6 surprising peanut butter combinations
- 7 facts about cola that make absolutely no sense
