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Farro and Vegetable Bowls

A tasty side dish or lunch for a week

This recipe is one of my favorite ways to eat some raw vegetables, which I normally don't love. I adapted this recipe from Cook's Country. The original recipe had mushrooms, which I don't like, so I replaced them with optional nuts. I grate the carrots instead of shaving them with a peeler. Grating carrots is easier and I prefer the taste this way. I normally am not a big fan of lemon flavors in savory foods, but I really enjoy the dressing for this dish which goes well with the sweetness of the carrots and tangy goat cheese. You could replace the dressing with your favorite vinaigrette. Note: I have recently updated this recipe and adjusted the amounts slightly. I was finding that I didn't have enough dressing to make this work as leftovers. I generally make this for only myself and it provides 4 easy lunches during the week.

Adapted From: Cook's Country

vegetarian salads vegetables

Notes

Any vinaigrette salad dressing would probably work with this dish. You can start boiling the water for the farro before you prep your ingredients to be time-efficient. Note the cooking time on your farro, which could be different than the one I use. Lately I've been using the 10-Minute Farro from Trader Joe's, so this dish is even faster. A bag of this farro is exactly what you need for the recipe, so you don't even need to measure. If you are serving the salad to your family and will be eating it all in one sitting you can just mix everything in a large bowl and do not need to assemble it the way I describe.

Directions

Gather and prep ingredients. You can start boiling the water before prepping ingredients for time efficiency.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large saucepan.
Zest the lemon. Cut in half and squeeze juice. Measure 1 teaspoon of zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and place in a small bowl or dressing shaker.
When water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt and farro to the pan. Stir and return to boil. Reduce the heat to medium and vigorously simmer for 10-25 minutes. Consult your farro package for time.
Add the olive oil, water, garlic, salt, and pepper to the lemon. Whisk or shake together. Set aside.
When the farro is tender with a bit of chew, drain. Return to the pan and add half of the dressing. Mix to combine.
Combine one-fourth of the spinach, one-fourth of the carrots (about ½ cup) and one-fourth of the farro (about ¾ cup) in large serving bowls. Drizzle each serving with a tablespoon of the remaining dressing. Toss to combine. Or if you are serving this all at once you can just mix everything together in a large bowl.
Sprinkle the bowl(s) with crumbled goat cheese. If using pistachios, sprinkle them on top and serve.
Leftovers are best when the parts are stored separately and mixed together before serving.

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