On a Nonruling Farro

I know a few regular visitors are vegetarians, while some others stay aware of healthy food choices. With summer around the corner, this dish will be on our menu.

Farro is an ancient grain produced by a specific variety of wheat. Today, Italian farmers produce most of the faro, but it is not easy to find. If you find it, beware of the price. With that in mind, I recommend Earthly Delights Organic Italian Pearled Farro from Amazon.

As far as grains go, farro is large. We enjoy cooked farro’s nutty flavor and the chewy texture. (It cooks in water more similar to spaghetti, not rice.)

Farro Salad is one of our favorites, which involves adding vegetables of choice to the 2 cups of cooked grain. Personally, I enjoy adding a variety of vegetables to give the dish color – that is adding items as chopped purple cabbage, peas, shaved carrots, and cucumbers.

Once assembled, adding a dressing completes the dish, which serves as a side dish or even a light meal. We prefer making our own citrus vinaigrette by mixing the following: olive oil (1/3 c, 90 ml), balsamic vinegar (2 tbsp, 30 ml), and lemon juice (2 tbsp, 30 ml). (Note: Substituting orange juice for lemon juice provides a different taste and level of sweetness.)

Here’s another recipe we recently tried: Farro Primavera with Parsley-Pecan Pesto. We found a wonderful recipe in the Wall Street Journal, but this link is the same recipe. This was a delightful dish, but involved a lot of chopping and blanching, which is something that we think can be done ahead. By the way, the pesto is the key.

Refrigerate either of these delights for a few days of snacks and/or lunches. Bon appetite!