Farro Salad with Spinach, Arugula, and Mushrooms
If you haven’t gotten on the bandwagon of mixing cooked grains into salads, then please consider making this your greens and grains debut. This is a dazzler of a salad — I ate half the bowl in a sitting.
What is Farro?
Farro is a hearty whole grain that can become a staple in your kitchen, appearing in everything from soups to casseroles to warm sides to room temperature salads like this one. It’s been around for a long time, once a mainstay of the ancient Roman diet. Farro has a substantial chewy texture, and it’s high in fiber and a good source of iron and protein, which also makes it a great anchor for a lot of vegetarian dishes. Try using it in recipes in which you might ordinarily reach for barley or brown rice.
Fall Vegetable and Farro Salad: This dazzler of a salad contains mushrooms, radishes, and spinach mixed with chewy nutritious whole grains.
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Substitutions for Farro
You can use other grains or small pastas instead of the farro — Israeli or Mediterranean couscous is nice, as is freekah, barley, or another firm grain.
How to Make Fall Vegetable and Farro Salad
Toss cooked and cooled farro with a simple vinaigrette.
Then add piles of spinach and arugula, and meaty slices of mushroom.
Some beautiful slices of watermelon radishes add gorgeous color to this salad. Vibrant watermelon radishes are becoming increasingly easy to find, and are worth seeking out. You can see why they are so named as soon as you slice them. If you can’t find them, use a few regular radishes instead.
Pair this with Polenta with Sauteed Mushrooms for a vegetarian meal, or Pan Fried Pork Chops for a non-vegetarian meal!
Pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) are optional, but add lovely crunch. This is also a great dish for a picnic or for a different kind of offering at a potluck.
Fall Vegetable and Farro Salad: A perfect grain salad for autumn, bursting with color and texture.
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Other Grain Salad Recipes:
- Millet and Greens Salad
- Tomato, Zucchini and Bulgur Salad
- Sesame-Honey Quinoa and Carrot Salad with Sliced Avocado
- Kale Quinoa Salad with Honey, Lemon and Dijon Dressing
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Fall Vegetable and Farro Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked farro
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 8 ounces sliced cremini or button mushrooms
- 4 cups arugula
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1 large watermelon radish thinly sliced
- Pepitas hulled pumpkin seeds or pine nuts to sprinkle on top (optional)
Directions
- Cook the farro according to package directions, or follow the instructions here. Cool on a baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, combine the sherry or red wine vinegar, olive oil shallots and Dijon, and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled cooked farro and toss. Add the mushrooms, arugula, spinach and watermelon radishes, then toss again. Sprinkle with the pepitas or pine nuts if desired, and toss again, or toss at the table.
Notes
Nutrition Information
The nutrition values are provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
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