Farro Salad

I’ve been trying to remember what led me to take a stab at farro. Nostalgia? Possibly… I mean let’s face it– farro does look a lot like a Honey Smacks cereal impersonator (or do you prefer Golden Crisp?—I never did know which was which). As a kid, I ate this every Saturday morning while watching Saved By The Bell, willing myself to be the next “Mrs. Zack Morris.”

Ah, I digress.

Farro Honey smacks cereal

I suspect I thought that I saw farro as the opposite of that Saturday morning bowl of sugar, in that—its so healthy. It’s got more protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins than rice does. And it’s a complex carb so it breaks down slowly, which keeps your energy level stable.

What does that mean? It keeps you full longer. The other added benefit—it tastes great! I’ve never really been a rice fan, but I LOVE the nutty, chewy taste of farro. So, what do you eat it with? Although you can simply just substitute farro for rice in any meal, I really like it as a base for a salad.

Yields: ~5 cups

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup uncooked farro, rinsed and then drained

1 cucumber, seeded and diced

1 red pepper, diced

10-15 grape tomatoes, halved

½ cup crumbled fat free feta cheese

½ red onion, diced

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

½ cup chickpeas

vinaigrette dressing (recipe below)

Vinaigrette dressing

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp oregano

pinch garlic powder

1. Whisk dressing ingredients together in bowl and set aside.

2. Stir together broth and farro in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until all of the water is absorbed ~25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and drain any excess broth. Let cool ~10 minutes.

3. Transfer farro to large mixing bowl, and add remaining ingredients, including vinaigrette dressing. Toss to combine.

4. Try my tahini dressing recipe drizzled over top! It adds the perfect flavor.

The Cook’s 2 cents:

· It’s hard to get ALL of the water absorbed when cooking the farro. As long as most is gone, you can drain any excess.

· The cucumber needs to be seeded, otherwise it makes the salad mushy. To seed a cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise and scrape seeds out with a spoon.

· I’ve had a few people ask me where to buy farro. It’s not a specialty item. It’s actually located at any grocery store in the grain aisle!