Hearty Farro Spring Salad
May is such an interesting month here in Monterey. It feels like our physical bodies are ready to lighten up with the longer days and promise of Spring, yet the chilly wind, heavy fog, and “May gray” make me want to cozy up with a blanket and eat warmer foods.
My latest compromise has been turning to hearty ancient grains, roasted vegetables, and salad greens. Its a great combination of warm items with lots of greens so I feel light yet also heated up slightly. While I’ve been playing with the grains of quinoa, which is a great source of proteins and gluten free, I also love barley and my newest recipe includes farro. Since I do know many of you stay clear of gluten, feel free to switch up the grain in this salad!
Also remember I feed a family of 5 and then some. I am typically looking to make enough of these meals to have for dinner and then lunches the next day. So play with portions according to your household.
Ingredients:
Farro (Trader Joes has a bag of 1 1/2 Cups)
Water (3 - 4 Cups for the 1 1/2 grain)
Greens (I love Kale, and chose Lacinato Kale in the bag cut up for convenience from Trader Joes)
Brussel Sprouts (about 2 cups)
Cauliflower (again bag of cut or go ahead and cut the whole head)
Chickpeas (1 can rinsed, or soak 2 cups dried)
Walnuts (going for warmth here, go big with the heart healthy nuts!)
Dressing:
Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Braggs Liquid Aminos, Garlic cloves, and Nut butter of choice
Let’s get cooking! Pretty simple to chop, roast, and toss together. Give yourself about 30 min for the process.
Preheat oven 420
In a Saucepan, combine your grains and water and bring to boil, allow the water to be absorbed and grains to expand. For farro, you may eventually need to drain excess water.
Chop up Sprouts, Cauliflower and place on roasting pan. Rinse chickpeas and drain and also add to pan, Add walnuts on top and drizzle with olive oil and a bit of sea salt then pop in oven and bake for 20 min.
Grab a large bowl and toss in the greens.
Prepare dressing. This is a fun one for me as I don’t use measuring tools :-) I do a 1 : 1 count based off the amount I desire. For this bowl, I did a count of about 8. So grab your blender. Add a few cloves of garlic, only you know how much you love! Then start to slowly pour your olive oil and count…then do the same pour for your vinegar…and then Braggs…Now you have your base dressing. I like all kinds of nut butter and seed butter. For this recipe I chose a salted almond butter, but in the past I have used sesame seed butter or tahini. Give the blender a whopping spoonful of your choice nut butter and set your blender to do its thing - taste and modify as you wish.
By now your grain is ready. Again drain any leftover water if needed. Toss the grains over your greens. Grab the roasting pan from oven and toss in bowl, give it a good mix. Add dressing and voila! You are healthy and warm too!
Enjoy!
