Mediterranean Farro Salad

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Vegetarian/Nut-Free

Skill Level: Beginner

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes (for the farro)

Equipment Needed:

• Cutting board 

• Chef's knife 

• Medium saucepan with tight fitting lid

• Fine mesh strainer

• Rubber/Silicone Spatula or wooden spoon

The Recipe:

This recipe was inspired by one I found on the website "Dinner at the Zoo"

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

• 1 tablespoon minced shallot

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped (or substitute 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

• 2 cups cooked farro, or 1 cup uncooked (find cooking tips for farro below)

• 1 cup cucumber, diced medium

• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, rinsed if they were packed in oil and diced medium

• 1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced or chopped

• 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Procedure:

1. Cook the farro, if necessary (see tips below). Allow your cooked farro to cool while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

2. Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the shallot with the red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Allow this mixture to macerate for about 15 minutes; this mellows out the sharpness of the shallot a bit. Add the Dijon, garlic, and oregano; whisk to combine. Slowly stream the olive oil into your ingredients, whisking constantly to emulsify. Add a hefty pinch of Kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking.

3. Add cooked farro, cucumber, roasted red pepper, red onion, kalamata olives, and parsley to a large bowl. Toss gently to combine.

4. Add about half of your dressing to the bowl, and toss to combine. Taste a forkful of your salad and determine if you need to add additional dressing or not. If you feel it is too dry, add more dressing (1-2 tablespoons at a time) until you are satisfied.

5. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese over the top of the salad, and serve. Leftover salad can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

To Serve: This is a great salad to serve for lunch, because it is light yet filling. If you wanted to serve it as a main dish at dinner, you may want to add a protein such as shredded chicken, chickpeas, or tofu. This salad is also great with a fresh piece of focaccia bread served alongside it!

Adjusting for your diet: This salad could be made vegan by omitting the feta cheese, or using a dairy-free cheese option. To make this salad gluten-free, you could try substituting a gluten-free grain for the farro such as quinoa, brown rice or kasha.

Tips:

• I love the nutty, savory taste of farro; I think it has great texture and is a really filling grain. It is also an Italian grain associated with Mediterranean cuisine, so it pairs really nicely with the ingredients in this salad. That said, this salad would be equally as delicious with one of the gluten-free options mentioned above, so don't be shy about substituting the grain!

• Tips for cooking farro: Measure 1 cup dry farro into a fine-mesh sieve (farro nearly doubles in size when cooked, so this should yield the appropriate amount for this recipe). Rinse the farro under cool water for about a minute, agitating with your hand a few times. Add 3 cups water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the farro along with a generous pinch of Kosher salt and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the farro is tender and chewy. I usually use pearled farro; the cook time for this is 15-20 minutes. If you are using semi-pearled farro or whole farro, your cooking time will increase by 5-10 minutes. The best way to tell if it is done is to taste it. When your farro is cooked to your liking, drain any remaining water and transfer to a bowl to cool. I have made this salad with farro that was cooked the day before and is cold from the fridge, as well as farro that is still warm and either way it tastes great :)

• White wine vinegar could be substituted for the red wine vinegar if it's what you have on hand. You could also use 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar/omit the lemon juice or 2 tablespoons lemon juice/omit the red wine vinegar depending on what you have.

• If you find yourself short on time, you could definitely skip the step of macerating the shallot in the acid for the dressing.

• I have a very healthy and beautiful oregano plant so I like to use fresh oregano whenever I can, but the dressing will taste great with dried as well!

• I like using English cucumber but any type of cucumber will certainly do.

• I buy a medley of roasted yellow and red peppers packed in oil to use for this recipe; these are great but as mentioned in the recipe, be sure to rinse them because you will be adding in the oil-based dressing as well and you don't want your salad to be overly-oily. If you are able to roast your own peppers, I'm sure those would be delightful in this salad.

• I love kalamata olives, and since they are traditional in a Greek salad, I think they work great here. However, if you have green olives on hand or prefer them, I think you could make that substitution.

• If you are not huge on raw onion (we can still be friends), feel free to cut down on the amount or chop it vs. slice it so you are not getting the bigger pieces. Do not substitute another type of onion here; the sharpness of the red onion is important to maintain the integrity of the dish.

• Be sure to use flavorful Italian-flat leaf parsley and not it's curly and flavorless cousin. Curly parsley really only belongs as a garnish next to your eggs over-easy (if then).

• I prefer to buy feta cheese in a block and crumble it myself; it tastes fresher to me. However you could certainly use or buy pre-crumbled feta as well.

• Tomatoes are usually a staple in a good Greek salad, so if you have some on hand I think they would make a welcome addition! The only drawback would be the shelf-life of the tomato once sliced is probably shorter than the other ingredients in this dish, so you may want to only consider adding them if you don't predict you will have any or much leftover. You could also try adding sundried tomatoes if you are experimenting.

The Story:

In my opinion, there is nothing better than a hearty grain salad for lunch. On a work day, I am usually so hungry by the time lunch rolls around that I will eat anything, so I try to pack a healthy lunch since I know I will be scarfing it down. This type of salad is my absolute favorite; packed full of gorgeous colors and textures, lots of healthy veggies, flavorful, filling, and so easy to prep and produce lunches for several days.

This Greek-inspired vinaigrette is so tangy and delicious, and made with ingredients I always have on hand

The idea to recreate a Greek salad in grain salad form was really born from an afternoon cleaning out my fridge. I had a few jars I wanted to get rid of, and among them were half a jar of roasted peppers and some sliced kalamata olives.

My stunning oregano plant; she inspires me daily to be the best version of myself I can be! Looking for name suggestions, I usually just say "hello gorgeous" when I greet her in the morning...

As I mentioned earlier, I love farro. Not only is it hearty and delicious, but it has some great health benefits too! Farro is part of an elite group of "ancient grains" (a few other members include quinoa, barley, and bulgur), which are a group of grains that have remained mostly unchanged for thousands of year and are therefore less processed than modern grains like corn and wheat. Farro is an excellent source of fiber, iron, and protein. What's not to love?!

I hope you will love this Mediterranean Farro Salad as much as I do! And if you have any name suggestions for my lovely oregano plant, I would love to hear about them in the comments :)

Happy tasting!