TO KEEP THE SALADS FRESH:

I top each salad with a piece of dried fruit (a whole dried fig per salad is my favorite). I also include unsalted nuts, such as almonds and pistachios. The dried fruit and nuts soak up the moisture from the veg, and add flavor and nutrients.

I stack the containers in the fridge, with those graced with the biggest figs in back. When I open one of the front containers, the fig is at least softened. Later in the week, the fig is fully reconstituted, the nuts are softened, and the salad is as fresh as the day it was made.

* I usually include a mix of lettuces, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, snap peas, carrots, red cabbage, steamed broccoli and sweet potatoes, mushrooms, green onion… Maybe fresh corn, apple chunks (tossed in lemon juice to prevent discoloration), steamed asparagus or butternut squash, fresh dill or cilantro, sunflower or lentil sprouts…

I’ve recently discovered chayote, a squash that is a little sweet and surprisingly good raw (and cooked).

I do not add salad dressing when I make these assembly-line salads, or any veg that would be too wet (such as chopped tomatoes and cucumbers), anything that would discolor (avocado), or anything that might overpower (onion slices). I add salad dressing when I open a salad, and might add avocado or whatever then too – though part of the reason I make all these salads at once is to have healthy, grab-and-go food on hand.