Bean Salad in a Mason Jar!!

It has occurred to me that I have tons of jars just waiting for me to put them to use.  Canning is something our family has always done and I still do but way less than when I had a family at home and a larger garden.

Do you have a drawer or a cabinet full of plastic stuff you use for storage and packing meals??  I sure do.

We both love salads and it seems like a good idea to me to make them up in one pint jars for lunch size servings.  So over the weekend I packed one of Brian's favorites, kidney bean salad.  This has really worked well.  The dressing is mixed up and put into the jar first at the bottom.  If I had packed a lettuce salad it would have kept the greens from wilting by layering in this fashion!  Next I placed the sliced celery in a layer then the diced sweet pickle.  These sturdy vegetables rise above the dressing and are substantial enough not to fade or wilt.  The nest layer was drained and washed kidney beans topped off with a diced hard cooked egg and a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.

Here is the ingredient list for each of 2 one pint jars:

2 T. mayonnaise
2 t. sweet pickle juice

Stir the dressing ingredients together and spoon into one of the jars, repeat for the second jar.

1/4 C. sliced celery
1/4 C. diced sweet pickle
1 C. rinsed and drained kidney brans
1 diced hard cooked egg
sprinkling of salt and pepper

Add the vegetables, beans, egg, and seasoning in the order given.  Seal the jar with a flat canning lid and band and refrigerate until ready to pack your lunch or eat!!  To serve, turn out into a dish ans stir or stir in the jar and enjoy.  Yield 2 one pint salads.