Shaken Balsamic Jar with Turkey, Mozzarella, and Basil
Layered jars of roasted turkey, fresh mozzarella, and marinating vegetables over a balsamic dressing, with basil and arugula on top and a hard shake at noon.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is the jar I build on a Sunday evening when the week ahead looks like the kind where lunch gets forgotten. Four quart jars, one turkey breast, and about twenty-five minutes of work that never has to be repeated. The whole idea is old and it still works better than anything else I have tried for a bag lunch. Heavy dressing at the bottom, then the vegetables that want to marinate in it, then the protein, then the soft leaves last where nothing can touch them. You carry it upright, you shake it hard at noon, and what comes out is a salad that was dressed thirty seconds ago.
The dressing is deliberately sharp, three parts balsamic to four parts oil with dried oregano and a lot of black pepper, because it has all morning to lose its edge into the vegetables. Kohlrabi, red pepper, and sun-dried tomato go straight into it. Kohlrabi is the one people have not usually tried in a jar, and it is the best thing in here, dense, faintly sweet, and completely unbothered by sitting in vinegar. The mozzarella goes above the marinating layer rather than in it, because cheese left in acid overnight goes rubbery and squeaks. Basil and arugula sit right at the top, dry, until the shake brings the dressing up to meet them.
Turkey breast is the part I would not skip and the part most likely to go wrong. Roast it hot, pull it at 165°F (74°C), and let it rest a full ten minutes before you cut it, or you will spend the week eating dry cubes. Done properly it stays tender straight out of the refrigerator and carries the whole jar. The mozzarella and the sun-dried tomatoes are what make it taste like a meal you would order rather than a container of chopped vegetables, and the toasted sunflower seeds on the very top give you something to bite. It is a big lunch and it eats slowly, which is most of what I want at a desk.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless turkey breast
- 6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 medium kohlrabi bulb (about 9 oz), peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes (about 1 2/3 cups), halved
- 1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and slivered
- 4 cups baby arugula (about 3 oz)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Roast the turkey: Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Rub the turkey breast with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, half the salt, and half the black pepper, and roast it on a small sheet pan for 30 to 35 minutes, until the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C). Let it rest a full 10 minutes before you cut it into 3/4-inch cubes.
- Toast the sunflower seeds: Put the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat and shake the pan every 30 seconds for about 4 minutes, until they color slightly and smell toasted. Tip them onto a plate immediately and let them cool completely, since they go soft if they sit in the hot pan.
- Make the dressing: Whisk the balsamic vinegar, the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, the dried oregano, and the remaining salt and pepper until it thickens and stops separating. Divide it among four wide-mouth quart jars, about 3 tablespoons in each. Do not stir anything into it yet.
- Layer the vegetables that marinate: Into each jar, on top of the dressing, add the kohlrabi matchsticks, then the diced red pepper, then the slivered sun-dried tomatoes, pressing each layer down gently. These are the three things you want sitting in the balsamic all morning. Add the halved cherry tomatoes on top of them, cut side up.
- Add the turkey and mozzarella: Divide the cubed turkey among the jars and level it out, then add the mozzarella cubes above it. Keeping the cheese out of the dressing is what stops it going rubbery overnight, so it sits high in the jar rather than down in the acid.
- Top, seal, and shake at lunch: Pack the arugula and torn basil in on top and press down so the lid holds everything in place, then scatter the cooled sunflower seeds over the leaves. Seal, and refrigerate at least 2 hours. At lunch, shake the jar hard for about 10 seconds and eat from the jar or tip it into a bowl.
Variations
- Chicken or steak: Roasted chicken breast or thinly sliced cold sirloin both work in place of the turkey at the same weight.
- Feta version: Swap the mozzarella for crumbled feta when you want the jar sharper and saltier.
- Olive and caper note: Add a spoonful of halved kalamata olives to the marinating layer for something brinier.
- Grain in the bottom: Spoon half a cup of cooked quinoa in over the dressing, under the kohlrabi, when you want the jar to carry you further.
- Herb swap: Use torn mint and parsley in place of the basil for a fresher, greener jar.
Storage & Leftovers
Sealed jars keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, and day two is the best of them, once the kohlrabi and red pepper have taken on the balsamic. By day four the arugula at the top starts to go translucent at the edges, so build three days of jars rather than a full week.
They travel in the jar they were built in and need no ice pack for a four-hour morning, though one is worth using if your bag sits in a warm car. Keep them upright. A jar laid on its side dresses the leaves early, and arugula that has been sitting in oil does not come back.
Do not freeze these. Mozzarella goes grainy and weeps on thawing, and the kohlrabi turns soft. If you want to work further ahead, roast and cube the turkey up to 3 days in advance and keep the dressing in a sealed jar for up to a week, then build the jars in about ten minutes.
Notes & Tips
- How it packs: One wide-mouth quart jar per person, lid screwed on tight, carried upright in a bag. No bowl, no extra dressing pot, and nothing but a fork needed at the other end.
- How far ahead: Build all four jars up to 3 days before you eat them. There is no morning step at all, which is the entire reason for building lunch this way.
- Dressing on the bottom, always: The stack runs from most durable to least. Break that order and you are carrying wet leaves and a puddle.
- Keep the cheese out of the acid: Mozzarella sitting in balsamic overnight turns squeaky and firm. Layered above the turkey it stays soft and milky.
- Rest the turkey properly: Ten minutes off the heat before cutting is the difference between tender cubes on Wednesday and dry ones on Monday.
- Shake it hard: A gentle turn leaves half the dressing in the bottom. Ten proper seconds, upside down and back, coats everything.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Turkey, mozzarella, and a jar of raw vegetables make a full lunch between them. The turkey brings the protein, the cheese brings fat and softness against everything crisp, and the balsamic dressing runs through all of it the moment you shake the jar.
- Turkey breast roasted whole and rested before cutting stays tender straight out of the refrigerator. It is dense in protein, and it carries selenium and the B vitamins along with a mild flavor that takes on whatever it has been sitting in.
- Kohlrabi is crisp, dense, and faintly sweet, closer to a stem than a root, and it holds that texture through a whole morning in vinegar. It brings vitamin C and fiber, and cut into matchsticks it is the loudest thing in the jar.
- Balsamic, dried oregano, sun-dried tomato, and torn basil are the whole seasoning. The balsamic goes in sharp and softens through the morning, the sun-dried tomatoes bring a concentrated sweetness, and the basil sits at the top so it is still green when you open the lid.
- Fresh mozzarella is soft, milky, and mild, and a few cubes of it change how the whole jar eats. It brings calcium and protein, and between the cheese, the turkey, and the olive oil in the dressing this holds you comfortably through an afternoon.
- As you eat, notice how the basil comes up first and the balsamic underneath it, and let the ten seconds of shaking be the start of an actual break rather than a step you rush through.
Frequently Asked Questions
I cannot find kohlrabi. What else holds up like that?
Jicama cut the same way is the closest match and stays every bit as crisp. Peeled broccoli stems work too, and so does thinly sliced radish. Cucumber is the one to avoid here, since it weeps in a dressing and waters down the bottom of the jar by lunchtime.
My jar came out watery. What happened?
Almost always the arugula went in damp. Wash it the night before if you can and dry it properly in a spinner or a clean towel. The other culprit is cherry tomatoes cut too early and left to sit in a bowl, so halve them straight into the jar and let the juice go where it belongs.
How far ahead can I really make these?
Three days, and I would build all three at once. Nothing has to happen on the morning at all. If you would rather split the work, cut the kohlrabi and pepper and store them sealed for up to four days, then assemble the jars the night before you carry them.
Does this fit a low-FODMAP lunch?
It does. The savory depth comes from balsamic, oregano, sun-dried tomato, and roasted turkey rather than from garlic or onion, so nothing gets stripped out and nothing tastes hollow. If you keep garlic-infused olive oil, use it in the dressing. Check that the sun-dried tomatoes are packed in plain oil and herbs.