Summer Farro Salad with Zucchini Asparagus and Feta

Why You'll Love this Recipe

• Very simple salad to make for an easy side dish, meal prep, or to bring to a summer bbq.
• Farro is a type of wheat grown around the Mediterranean and Middle East and is full of nutrients.
• The flavor of this salad pops!
• The colors are vibrant and beautiful.
• This goes perfectly with many proteins, from beef to fish.

What is Farro?

Farro is an ancient grain in the wheat family. "Ancient" meaning it has not been genetically modified or bred in a way to change it over centuries. Farro is one of our favorite grains because it cooks easily and keeps its firm texture well. It has a chew to it and a nice nutty flavor. Like barley, farro has a firm texture when cooked.

Farro recipes are great to enjoy as side dishes, but we especially love farro in this summer salad application to enjoy on its own or as a hearty side dish for a variety of proteins.

Ingredients

Here is what you need to make this recipe:

• Asparagus: Just the asparagus tips are used in this recipe. They are blanched and added to the salad. You can save the blanched stems for another recipe, or dice them and throw them in the salad too.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Halved cherry tomatoes bring a great burst of flavor to the salad.
• Farro: Generally it is easiest to find pearled farro where we live, meaning the bran of the grain has been removed and it takes less time to cook
• Vegetable Stock: We cook the farro in unsalted vegetable stock for a little more flavor.
• Black Pepper: Cooking farro with pepper adds a nice tough of peppery flavor without being too hot or spicy.
• Olive Oil: A little olive oil is used to sauté the three vegetables. No need to use anything too expensive or high quality when cooking with olive oil.
• Red Onion: One of three vegetables sautéed and added to the farro.
• Bell Pepper: We like to use yellow or orange bell peppers for the added color, but red peppers work well in this nutty farro salad too.
• Zucchini: Sautéed with the onion and bell pepper, zucchini adds a wonderful summer flavor to the salad.
• Fresh Basil: A natural herb to use in this salad, fresh basil has a perfectly complimentary flavor to the nuttiness of the farro in this dish.
• Lemon: Fresh lemon juice wakes the salad up and harmonizes the entire dish.
• Kosher Salt: Used at the end to taste.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Good, high quality extra virgin olive oil is used to dress the farro salad at the end.
• Feta Cheese: The secret weapon of salty, briny, flavorful feta cheese makes this salad sing!

See recipe card below for quantities.

Substitutions

Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

• Cherry tomatoes: You can use grape tomatoes, or other small juicy tomatoes here if cherry are difficult to find.
• Vegetable stock: Chicken stock works here as well, but you can always use water.
• Red Onion: We like red onion for the flavor and color, but you can substitute white or yellow onion
• Zucchini: Yellow squash is an easy substitute for zucchini, but any summer squash will work here.
• Feta cheese: We love the briny flavor or feta, but you can use goat cheese or even blue cheese if desired.

How to Make this Summer Farro Salad

There are four easy steps to making this delicious salad: 1) blanching the asparagus, 2) cooking the farro, 3) sautéing the vegetables in olive oil, 4) then mixing the cooled ingredients together with the finishing touches of basil, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and feta cheese.

Equipment

Here is what you need to make this dish

• Large Pot of salted water to blanch the asparagus.
• Medium Bowl of ice water to shock the asparagus tips.
• Medium Pot to cook the farro.
• Medium Nonstick Skillet to sauté the vegetables.
• Large Bowl, such as a large salad bowl or serving bowl for the final dish.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Blanch the Asparagus Tips

• Prepare a bowl of ice water. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the asparagus tips for 2 minutes. Remove them to the medium bowl of ice water to shock and cool down. After 5 minutes, remove the asparagus tips from the bowl of ice water and place on a paper towel to dry. 

Cook the Farro

• Rinse the farro a few times to remove the "dust" from the grains. Cook the farro according to package directions, replacing the water with vegetable stock and adding the black pepper. Ours cooks for around 13-15 minutes, but follow package instructions for best results.
• While the farro cooks, add the halved cherry tomatoes to a large serving bowl and set aside.
• Once the farro is done, drain off excess liquid and put the warm farro in the bowl directly on top of the tomatoes. Let it sit to cool while you finish the rest of the dish.

Sauté the Vegetables

• In a skillet, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, zucchini and a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté for a few minutes until the onion is translucent and the zucchini has softened. Remove from the heat and add to the big bowl of farro and tomatoes and allow to cool a bit.

Assemble the Salad

• Once the farro and vegetables are somewhat cooled, fold in the basil, add the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, then fold in the crumbled feta cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed and serve!

Variations

Here are a couple ways to change up this easy farro salad recipe:

• If you need a gluten free option, use barley or wild rice instead of farro.
• You can serve this hot as well if desired.
• Change up the vegetables! For a fall or winter version, use butternut squash, kale, pumpkin seeds and broccoli. Or use your favorite raw fresh vegetables such as green or red bell pepper, cucumber, radishes spinach and carrots. 
• Add sliced grilled chicken, salmon, or sautéed shrimp on top for a heartier salad to enjoy as a main course.

Storage

How to store leftover farro salad:

• Store leftover farro in a covered airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

How to serve leftover farro salad:

It can be served cold, at room temperature, or warm it gently in the oven if desired.

Troubleshooting

The blanching time may need to change depending on the size of your asparagus tips. Use the default 2-minute blanch time for medium asparagus tips. If they are exceptionally large or small, add or subtract 30-60 seconds on the blanching time.

What to serve with Summer Farro Salad

The beauty of this salad is that it goes with almost everything! It is our favorite side dish with anything grilled, including chicken, beef, pork, and seafood. It is also a great recipe to serve warm with a roast or lamb chops.

What Wines To Drink with Summer Farro Salad

Pair your wine with your protein, but if just having the farro salad alone or topped with chicken, salmon or shrimp, then there are several options. You can go with a crisp, dry sauvignon blanc, or go with an semi-dry white wine as well. Rosé from Provence, France pairs particularly well with this farro salad.