This delicious farro & arugula salad is easily my new favorite salad recipe. As the name suggests it mainly consists of a mixture of hearty farro and peppery arugula. But it also includes meaty kalamata olives along with refreshing diced cucumber and tomato. All of which is tossed in a homemade honey-lemon vinaigrette. It is light enough to make a great side dish for any meal but also filling enough to make a healthy lunch all on its own.
What is farro?
For those of you that have never cooked with farro before it might sound like some new or exotic ingredient. But the truth is that most of us have been eating something similar to farro our entire life.
Regular old common wheat!
And while farro typically isn’t used to make the same wheat flour that we make bread or pasta out of, it is a variety of wheat. And in fact, it is one of the oldest varieties of wheat humans have cultivated. So if anything cooking and eating farro is simply getting back to our roots.
How to cook farro?
Farro is a whole grain, so it’s often recommended that you cook it like other whole grains i.e. rice or quinoa. That means putting it in a pot with some water and placing it over some heat so that grains either boil or steam. However, unlike rice which typically needs only enough water to steam the grains, farro best boiled. As a matter of fact, you can cook your farro just like you would cook dried pasta.
So simply place the amount of farro you want to cook into a large pot. Cover it with enough water that comes up an inch or two above the grains. And simply boil your farro for about 20 to 40 minutes or until it’s tender. Then all you have to do is strain the cooked farro through a sieve to get rid of any excess water.
It’s really that easy!
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Do you or someone you know have celiac disease? Then you can easily swap out the farro with brown rice for a gluten-free alternative.
- Try adding in a can of cooked chickpeas to the salad for an even more filling dish. Just make sure that they are drained and rinsed before adding them to the salad.
- I highly recommend you use either an English or Persian cucumber in this salad as it is seedless. However, if you can only find a regular cucumber then you will want to cut out and remove the seedy core.
- Feel free to make both the farro & arugula salad and the salad dressing ahead of time. Then simply add the dressing and toss the salad when you are ready to eat.
- Some of my favorite dishes to serve this farro & arugula salad with include chicken piccata, greek chicken, and lamb chops in tomato sauce.
Farro & Arugula Salad Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 to 40 minutes (for the farro)
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the salad:
1 Cup of farro, dry
4 Cups of baby arugula
1 Cup of English cucumber, diced
1 Cup of tomato, diced
15 to 20 Pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half
Salt & pepper to taste
For the dressing:
⅓ Cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 Teaspoons of honey
¼ Teaspoon of dried oregano
¼ Teaspoon of garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the farro: Follow the instructions for cooking your farro found on its package. Once it is cooked, drain off any excess liquid, and set the farro aside to cool to room temperature.
- Make the salad dressing while the farro is cooling off by whisking all of the salad dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
- Make and toss the salad: Add the arugula, farro, cucumber, tomato, and olives to a large mixing bowl.
Pour ¾ of the salad dressing into the bowl and toss everything together. Taste the salad and add more dressing if you feel like it needs it along with some salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve the farro & arugula salad immediately and enjoy!
Farro & Arugula Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 Cup of farro dry
- 4 Cups of baby arugula
- 1 Cup of English cucumber diced
- 1 Cup of tomato diced
- 15 to 20 Pitted kalamata olives sliced in half
- Salt & pepper to taste
For the dressing:
- ⅓ Cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- 2 Teaspoons of honey
- ¼ Teaspoon of dried oregano
- ¼ Teaspoon of garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the farro: Follow the instructions for cooking your farro found on its package. Once it is cooked, drain off any excess liquid, and set the farro aside to cool to room temperature.
- Make the salad dressing while the farro is cooling off by whisking all of the salad dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
- Make and toss the salad: Add the arugula, farro, cucumber, tomato, and olives to a large mixing bowl. Pour ¾ of the salad dressing into the bowl and toss everything together. Taste the salad and add more dressing if you feel like it needs it along with some salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve the farro & arugula salad immediately and enjoy!
