Salad bar dining is fun year round, but especially in the summertime.  I found these cute little mason jars in Target’s good old Dollar Spot marked down from $3 US to half price, and my mind started envisioning creative ways to use them.  So I filled my cart.  Oh, Target!  You know how that works.

Having gone out to lunch at a salad bar restaurant earlier this week, I jotted down all the things I put on my plate to make my salad.  I then filled these cute jars with those tasty toppings that I prepped the night before.  How handy it is to pull a plastic organizer tray from the refrigerator with all these goodies ready to go!

Everyone has his or her own favorites for a salad bar.  These are are a few of mine.

• hard-boiled eggs, diced
• spicy peanuts
• radishes, sliced with food processor in two seconds
• frozen peas, thawed
• ham cubes (I bought one ham steak at HEB, then cut it up)
• cheddar cheese, grated in food processor in about three seconds
• cherry tomatoes, cut into 8ths
• red onion, diced
• cauliflower, cut into small “trees,” as my son calls them
• red kidney beans, open from can, rinse, drain
• croutons
• lettuce, romaine hearts, cut in bite-sized pieces
• homemade blue cheese salad dressing

There are as many possibilities as you can imagine of your perfect salad bar. This happens to be mine, therefore, it’s Kelly’s Salad Bar.

The bargain jars filled with my favorite toppings make it easy to whip up this meal for several times, or to take to a party or to pack for a picnic in the park.

I’ve tried to exercise a bit of self control with the amount of homemade blue cheese salad dressing I’ve smothered my salad with.  See the recipe in my previous post for this yummy blue cheese dressing, made with Amish blue cheese. Of course, you can choose any kind you like to change the flavor.

My 14-year-old, who is away at dance camp this week and next, is having the time of her life.  She’s probably never going to want to come home after all the fun she’s been having.  I take comfort in knowing when she has a brief time to wind down, she will see these pictures and miss home for an instant.

I hope you can be inspired from this simple meal idea to make your day or someone else’s by creating the ideal salad bar for you and yours!