They say we first eat with our eyes. Gastroenterologists may disagree, but we know what is meant: The visual appearance of food is part of the experience of eating it. Often, the better it looks, the better it tastes.

And that may be the reasoning behind a tasty new trend of boxing up salads in see-through containers. It’s like a layered salad — or one of those make-your-own-cookie jars — but in just one portion.

It’s a great way to whet your appetite before you even get your salad on a plate. And there are even some people who just eat the salad in layers out of the container.

The idea of what I call Shake-a-Salad appears to have originated with the folks at Ziploc who, not coincidentally, also developed a clear plastic cylinder in which to put the salad. But anything clear and tallish and straightish will do — a Mason jar, for instance, though there will be a bit of a bottleneck at the top.

There are only a couple of rules to follow when making a Shake-a-Salad. You want to build it with layers of the sturdiest and heaviest items on the bottom, so they don’t crush the more delicate layers. And because the dressing is obviously going to find its way to the bottom, you don’t want to put lettuce there, which will wilt in the dressing, or items such as grains or croutons that will absorb it.

I made three, just for kicks.

The first, Pad Thai Salad with Peanut Sesame Dressing, was developed by Ziploc specifically to be used in one of these containers. Included are all the ingredients for pad Thai except the one that actually defines the dish, the rice noodles. But the rest is there: chicken, peanuts, scallions, sesame seeds, cilantro and bean sprouts, plus ingredients chosen as much for the way they look as the way they taste — red cabbage, carrots and red bell peppers.

Still, the real star of this salad is the peanut sesame dressing. Thick, hearty and drenched in peanut-sesame flavors, this is a dressing to remember for any number of salads based on lettuce, kale or cabbage.

Shake-a-Salad No. 2 was a mixture of farro, roasted chickpeas and feta cheese, along with a spicy — but very light — dressing. The genius of this salad is the amazing way the rich nuttiness of the farro becomes instantly enlivened when it meets the briny saltiness of the feta. The roasted chickpeas are only a crunchy icing on the cake.

My final Shake-a-Salad makes full use of one of those classic food combinations, beets and oranges. Arugula adds a peppery punch, which is nicely smoothed out by a mild dressing sparked by a hint of orange juice. Walnuts on top keep the salad solid and sophisticated.