Italian Farro Salad

I love Farro! 

Pronounced Fahr-Oh, it is one of the oldest cultivated grains on the planet.

It is such a delicious grain, somewhere between barley and rice in texture, and it soaks up any flavor you give it! If you haven’t tried it, I totally encourage it! When I buy it, I buy more than one - it can be somewhat hard to find at my local grocery store, so sometimes I opt to buy it online. My favorite brand is Nature’s Earthly Choice Organic Farro, and I usually opt for the 6-pack!

This is my second recipe including Farro - the first being my Scarlett Farro Salad. Both are cold salads, and both equally delish.

Truthfully, you could throw in anything you like, toss with a little vinaigrette and it’s sure to be delicious. It’s so great to have something scrumptious and healthy to grab and eat in the fridge, too!

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

This Italian Farro Salad can be a meal or a great side item. It can be a snack, or a great dish to bring to a pot luck. You can eat it warm right after mixing, or my preference, after it has sat in the fridge at least 2 hours so the Farro soaks up all the yummy flavors you give it.

One of my favorite things about this Italian Farro salad - I cooked the Farro using my shiny new Instant Pot! If you haven’t heard of them, check it out here! It’s a pressure cooker, but a modern day, freaking amazing pressure cooker. There’s lots of great recipes using the Instant Pot on Simply Instant Pot (can be “translated” to any pressure cooker), including how to cook Farro in the Instant Pot.

Without further ado…

Italian Farro Salad

Farro

1 cup Farro

3 cups water

1/2 t salt (or garlic salt if you want to kick it up a flavor-notch!)

Salad Ingredients

Cooked Farro

1/2 cup cannellini beans

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes or dried cranberries, chopped (I use whichever I have on-hand. Today it was dried cranberries — you want that sweet, chewy bite)

3 T walnuts, chopped

3 T Italian vinaigrette (your fave or my Simply Tangy Balsamic Vinaigrette)

pinch garlic salt

1/4 t black pepper

pinch to 1/4 t crushed red pepper, optional for spice

Garnish

Fresh basil, chiffonnade (aka cut into strips), optional

Directions

Cook Farro according to package instructions - Add water, farro and salt to pot. Bring to boil and boil for 15 minutes. Drain remaining water (it cooks in between pasta and rice… some water will be absorbed but not all, so drain like you do pasta).

Add Farro and salad ingredients to mixing bowl. Mix together.

Transfer to storage dish(es) (tupperware or a lidded bowl). I love using these 6 ounce Anchor custard bowls with lids for portion control! I also love these Sagler mixing bowls (set of 3 in 1.5, 3 & 5 quart) because they have lids!

Chill for at least 2 hours, then ENJOY (can also be eaten warm, but chilling it helps develop more flavor - everybody got time for flavor!)

Something that is extra AWESOME about this Farro Salad is the combination of textures and flavors - crunchy, nutty walnuts - sweet, chewy cranberries/sun-dried toms - slightly chewy, satisfying farro - tangy dressing - sharpness from the onion - creamy cannelloni beans.

I mean, seriously… so freaking DELISH!

And, Healthy: YUM-E!

Italian Farro Salad

Check out Simply Instant Pot for simple, Instant Pot pressure cooker recipes!