The key to farro is to not over cook it or under cook it. This salad is pretty filling with the farro and the cheese, but this means I didn’t have to find a snack later in the day, which sometimes happens. I love anything with fresh mozzarella, which, by the way, is very affordable at Trader Joe’s, and very not affordable at Safeway.
Ingredients
makes 5 servings
- 2 cups uncooked farro
- 1 medium red onion, cut in half
- 1 garlic clove
- handful of fresh parsley plus 1 tablespoon finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup finely diced (1/4″cubes) fresh mozzarella cheese
- 2 teaspoons minced pitted kalamata olives
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 package of spinach
- freshly ground pepper
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
Add the farro, one onion half, garlic, handful of parsley and salt along with 2 3/4 cups water to a 2 quart pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off burner and let sit, covered, for 5 more minutes. Discard the onion, garlic and large pieces of parsley. Spread out on a rimmed sheet pan and let cool completely (do not skip this step or the mozzarella will melt into the finished dish). Or, if serving the next day, just store in the refrigerator.
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegars and honey to prepare the dressing. Chop the remaining onion half finely. Add onion, cooled farro, mozzarella, kalamata olives, tomatoes, remaining tablespoon of parsley and basil to a deep bowl. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on top of a bed of spinach.
