This fiber-loaded Hearty Farro Salad Recipe mixes rustic fall veggies with tart apple, spicy jalapeños and umami-packed pecorino Romano cheese. Hearty and healthy!
Hearty Farro Salad
I’m always looking for the perfect bite. Whether it’s trying to get just the right amounts of cockles, chili, garlic and pasta on the fork when eating spaghetti vongole – or hoping for the perfect ratio of rice to Japanese curry, the perfect bite is always the goal. Something glorious happens when the contrasting and complimentary flavors in a recipe work in harmony. So it stands to reason that, within a bite of food, just the right amount of those flavors and textures can send your enjoyment into overdrive! My favorite part of this hearty farro salad recipe is that there are a dozen different perfect bites to be had within one bowl of food. And that’s a super exciting prospect to my taste buds indeed!
For this farro salad, I combined fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini because those ingredients are in-season and looking good at the grocery store right now. They imparted an earthy, filling heft to this healthy salad. By contrast, spicy, fresh jalapeño peppers and tart Granny Smith apples brought real brightness to the dish. And everything was tied together by the umami element that the pecorino Romano cheese naturally has in spades. All of these ingredients used in tandem, push and pull with just the right amount of force to deliver a truly diverse balance of flavors.
It was super fun to load up a spoon with different elements of this hearty farro salad and experiment with all of the flavor combination possibilities. I became a huge fan of devouring a spoonful of farro with the green apple, pecorino Romano, zucchini and cashew. Spice junky Ben’s perfect bite came from eating the farro with jalapeño, red onion and pecorino Romano. A cool surprise for both of us was that the sweet potatoes and fingerling potatoes were delicious and filling without weighing the dish down. Victory!
Farro is an ancient grain derived from wheat. It is lower in calories and fat than quinoa – and absolutely bursting with fiber and protein. Cooking the kernels results in a soft, yet toothsome, grain that is used heavily in Italian cuisine. Farro’s nutty flavor compliments the bright, savory and earthy flavors brought on by the myriad ingredients in this hearty and healthy farro salad. It’s hard to find fault with a simple recipe that presents so many possibilities to construct the perfect bite of food. Hmmmm… I think I’ll have seconds! What recipe have you tried that has the ingredients to create the perfect bite of food? I’d love to hear about your perfect bite in the comments!
Other simple, hearty and healthy salad recipes:
- Warm Broccoli and Chickpea Salad
- Detox Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Roasted Beet Salad With Parmesan and Dill
- Chopped Salad With Avocado and Endive
- Broccolini Salad With Burrata Cheese
Did you like this Hearty Farro Salad Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
- 1 cup farro
- 3 cups chicken stock OR vegetable stock (for vegetarian)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped bite size
- 3 fingerling potatoes, chopped bite size
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped bite size
- 1 red onion, peeled and chopped into half moons
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 zucchini, chopped bite size
- 2 tablespoons balsamic or sherry vinegar
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped bite size
- ¼ cup cashew nuts
- ¼ cup shaved pecorino Romano or feta cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Rinse farro under water and add to a small pot with stock.
- Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain excess liquid, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
- Line a medium size baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil and set aside.
- In a large pan over high heat, add olive oil, sweet potato, fingerling potatoes, carrot and red onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and zucchini and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add balsamic vinegarand toss. Turn the heat off and transfer vegetables to the baking sheet.
- Roast for 20 minutes and add to farro.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients and toss well.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Low in cholesterol
Low in sodium
High in potassium
High in vitamin A
Very high in vitamin B6
High in vitamin C
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