I had always wanted to buy that bag of organic farro at Costco. I would pick it up and just look at it but I would always put it back. Nothing was coming to mind as to how I would use it. I love it in soups but I am usually in a salad mood this time of the year.
I read this post from Orangette. She used farro as a warm side dish with caramelized onions and feta.
I then saw this post from Epicurious. This salad was a bit closer to what I was looking for.
I had some lovely grape tomatoes, a chunk of french feta and some kalamata olives. I think you can see where I am going here…
I cooked the farro as per the instructions on the bag but added some herbs and garlic to the cooking water. Make sure you cook the farro al dente. It keeps a wonderful chewy texture and sweet flavor if you do not over cook it.
Letting it sit after being cooked in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and herbs overnight in your fridge is really the way to go.
I wanted to bulk out the salad and bit so I tossed some baby organic spinach in right before serving and poured some more olive oil over the salad.
Perfect. Just the right combination of nutty grain, sweet tomatoes, salty olives and feta and the fresh bite of spinach.
Farro, Baby Spinach, Tomato and Feta Salad
Cooking the farro
1 cup dried farro
2 cups water
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Bring water to a boil and add salt, garlic and thyme.
Add farro and boil until tender but not over cooked. Al dente is just perfect for this grain. Drain water and put cooked farro into a bowl with oil, vinegar and season to taste. Let sit in your refrigerator until chilled or best yet leave it there overnight.
For the salad
1 cup halved sweet grape tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
5-6 cups fresh baby spinach
Toss farro with the above ingredients in a large bowl and serve. Add more balsamic or olive oil as needed and season to taste.
I’ve never had farro but I’d really like a bite or two of that salad. Delicious.
What a great simple salad. Farro is not something I’m familiar with, but I do like to add grains to my salad. I may have to try this.
You can’t ever go wrong with spinach and feta together! looks lovely.
I’ve never had farro – but it looks like barley, is it similar? I like barley in a salad too – we had one yesterday with beans and a mexican spice blend – very yummy. Yours looks delicious too, so I’ll try it next time with the barley.
Just picked up a bag of farro. This looks yum, Connie! Perfect for warm weather.
After reading your post, I can’t believe I’ve never bothered to cook with farro. This dish sounds amazing!
Isn’t it a great feeling when you finally go for trying a new ingredient? This looks tasty!
I love summertime. Beautiful salad.
On my way to Italy this weekend, and will be bringing back lots of Farro! Thanks for reminding me it can also be used in summertime! Looks gorgeous.
Beautiful! Grain and veg salads like these are one of my favorites.
This looks really good. It was fun reading about how you got to the final version of the recipe.
Now THAT is a glorious salad Connie! Love nutty faro and every other thing! Beautiful!
Looks delicious! I’ll have to grab that big bag of Farro at Costco when I grab the big bag of Quinoa I keep eyeing.
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Sounds lovely!
Is farro sometimes called a wheat berry?
Yes.
I have a similar recipe with quinoa but it doesn’t contain feta, one of my favorite things (along with balsamic). Think I might have to whip this up!
That looks delicious ….. I’ve always wondered about using farro too & now I have a recipe to try!