Mediterranean Farro Salad

As the weather gets nicer (hopefully, lol) you can't go wrong with fresh, vibrant and filling salads. I'm talking a salad that keeps you full, but is super bright in flavour. If you are nodding your head in agreement, this mediterranean farro salad is for you. If you haven't tried farro before, consider this your sign!

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• Why You'll Love this Recipe
• Recipe Overview
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Expert Tip
• Mediterranean Farro Salad
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love this Recipe

• This mediterranean farro salad is a great way to use up any vegetables or proteins in your fridge. I went the greek salad route, but anything works!
• The only cooking required is cooking the farro. When the weather is hot outside, I promise you no one wants to be slaving over a hot stove or oven.
• It is super light! This salad greek farro salad is one of those meals that keeps you full, but also doesn't weigh you down. Farro is a great grain for that.
• It's great as a vegetarian salad, but would be great with some baked feta shrimp or just add some simple grilled chicken

Recipe Overview

• Flavour: Bright, bright and bright! The dressing is perfectly citrusy and zesty, with a little background spice from the calabrian chilis. Think of your favourite greek salad, with an unexpected twist!
• Ease: Farro actually cooks up just like pasta. You will want to cook it in salted, boiling water. I add a tablespoon of bouillon to the water just to amp up the flavour of farro, as it is pretty boring on its own. You cook it until tender, which does take about 30 minutes, and drain just like your favourite pasta.
• Time: In the time it takes to boil your farro, you can prep all the vegetables and the dressing. Because of that, this quick salad takes about 30 minutes to whip up. *This is a great make-ahead salad as well!*

Ingredients

• Farro: Farro is an ancient grain. It is a lot easier to find nowadays, in the same aisle that you'd find barley and couscous. If you haven't tried it, its got a little bit of a chewy texture and a nutty taste. If you can't find farro, this salad would be equally as good with barley, or even orzo pasta.
• Cucumbers, grape tomatoes and Kalamata olives: These are some of my favourites from a classic greek salad. My secret when using cucumbers and tomatoes in a salad, is that I deseed my cucumbers. Using a spoon, I take the seeds out of my english cucumbers to prevent the salad from getting watery. Likewise, grape tomatoes are perfect for salads like these, because they don't let out as much moisture as regular tomatoes when chopped. Kalamata olives are my favourite for salads. They have a great briney taste, but they aren't too wild. Do yourself (and whoever you are cooking for) a favour, and pit and chop the olives before adding them!
• Calabrian Chilis: My latest obsession! These are usually found either in a paste, chopped, or whole. Your best bet is the paste or the chopped up ones. If you are sensitive to spice, leave them out! And of course, if you prefer spicier, amp it up! If you can't find calabrian chilis you can substitue with chili flakes as well.
• Lemon juice and zest: I highly recommend fresh lemon juice for this dressing, because there are so few ingredients. Don't forget to zest your lemons before you cut them to juice them!
• Chicken broth: My secret to lightening up the dressing is to use some chicken broth, instead of all olive oil. You can definitely use more olive oil if you prefer (because well, olive oil is delicious), but this keeps it on the lighter side of things.
• Spices and Seasonings: Good ol' garlic and onion powder are what you will need. I avoid fresh garlic in salads like these, because it has a sharp flavour.
• Parsley and Scallions: These are two of my favourite fresh herbs. If you want, fresh mint would be fabulous in this salad.

Instructions

1. Boil the farro: Boil the farro in a pot of salted water, with a tablespoon of chicken bouillon. You may also use chicken broth. Once the farro is tender, but still a little chewy, drain and set aside.
2. Prep the vegetables: Dice the deseeded cucumbers, halve the grape tomatoes, pit and chop the Kalamata olives, and the herbs.
3. Mix the dressing: Mix together the lemon juice and zest, garlic and onion powder, salt, olive oil, calabrian chili peppers and chicken broth.
4. Assemble: Assemble the salad in a big bowl, with the farro, vegetables and dressing, and toss! Enjoy!

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