Farro Salad

Submitted by Rita1652

"This refreshingly sweet salad is a tasty culinary delight. Yes you can use barley in place of the farro. But try to get it. It is so chewy and yummy!"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 15

ingredients

• FARRO

• 2 cups hot water
• 1 cup cracked farro, perlato rinsed and picked over
• salt (to season)

• DRESSING

• 4 tablespoons fig balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried Italian spices
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• red pepper flakes, to taste

• SALAD

• 3⁄4 cup minced onion
• 1 cup minced cucumber, seeded and peeled
• 1 cup diced tomato
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, minced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted rough chopped
• 1 ounce shredded pecorino romano cheese

directions

1. In a pot with the hot water seasoned with salt, add farro. Simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl stir together dressing ingredients.
3. Add the rest of the salad ingredients and toss.
4. When farro is tender, remove from heat; rinse in cool water and drain. Add drained farro to salad ingredients.
5. Tasty as is or chill and let flavors come together.
6. Season with additional herbs, salt and pepper if needed.
7. Garnish with fresh basil.

Reviews

[Jonathan Melendez]

This is a great way to introduce more farro into your diet. The salad was perfect! Great as a side dish or a vegetarian main if you're looking for something on the lighter side!

 

[zeldaz51]

Very good, easy to throw together with leftover cooked farro and fridge/pantry contents, but I feel the instructions need some refinements to fit the usual standards for those who are newcomers to cooking with recipes. There are more newbies every day, and they can get nervous if instructions are not precise, unlike us older hands. Please instruct to thaw and drain the frozen peas, they will water down the finished dish otherwise. Also, minced means chopped into EXTREMELY tiny pieces, equivalent to grinding. I feel diced would have been more useful for the description of cutting the cucumber. Mincing it would essentially puree it, as it is so watery. And was shredded cheese actually what was meant? Shaved might give it a better presence, as shredded cheese gets wet and lost in the mixture. That being said, I used quartered super-sweet grape tomatoes and omitted the sun-dried ones. Having no fig balsamic, I used regular balsamic, although some slivers of dried fig in lieu of the dried tomatoes sounds like a good potential addition, too. Scallions instead of regular onion. No basil on hand, so parsley worked well to add a fresh green herbal note along with the scallions. No big changes, they get annoying. A nice recipe, and for those who have not tried farro, this recipe might be your gateway drug to the grain! It's delicious and useful.

 

[januarybride]

FABULOUS, Rita! Love it. So easy. So flavorful. Perfect side dish to just about anything! I am going to eat it luke warm for lunch and then serve it warmed up a bit to hubby for dinner as a side to a veggie burger! I left out the cucumber, only because I didn't have any. . .otherwise made recipe spot on! Made as a recipenap for Veg*n Tag December 2009. UPDATE: I made this delightful recipe today, leaving off the cheese and adding Kalamata olives to replace that zing. Perfect Vegan dish for this Ash Wednesday!

 

[Kallio Kall]

Have made this salad several times now and it is the one everyone asks me to make for dinners and events now. In a pinch I have used the Kraft Fig Balsamic Salad dressing when I could not find the fig balsamic vinegar and it was equally as good.

 

[Kumquat the Cats fr]

LOVED this! I used spelt instead of farro, which may be farro, but I'm not sure. It was chewy and nutty like farro. The pine nuts helped bring out the nuttiness. Just the right amount of spices. I did add some red pepper flakes. I also added half a chopped orange pepper because I had leftover in the fridge. Beautiful and colorful salad. I will add to my favorites and make this again. Thanks Rita!