Fall farro salad

Carnivores look away. This salad is hip, man. An ancient grain and vegan-friendly. It’s probably too cool for some of my readers (you know who you are). 

We’re enjoying one of our best falls on record (normally snow is a real possibility right now), and I wanted a healthy and hearty but not heavy salad. This was perfect.

I buy “quick cook” farro from Trader Joe’s. That just means that it takes 10 minutes instead of 40 to cook. Farro is sometimes called spelt. You could easily substitute in barley or wheat berries, even wild rice, which is common here in Minnesota. Anything that will crunch and be good cold/room temperature. 

The squash if diced small and tossed in olive oil get a nice crispy crunch outside but stay soft inside. I love the varying textures in this salad, along with the colors! 

Fall farro salad

• 2c (8 oz dried package) farro
• 1c chopped kale
• 1c butternut squash, diced small
• 1c red cabbage chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic chopped 
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/3c olive oil
• Salt and pepper 

Roast diced squash for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Boil farro for 10 minutes and drain. Mix vinaigrette. Toss kale, cabbage and farro in vinaigrette. I used about half to start and kept adding until it tasted well coated. Add in squash. Serve cold or at room temperature.