Farro Tabbouleh

I needed the perfect potluck dish--something hearty and delicious, able to withstand July heat at mid-day, portable, and plenty. I asked my wise friend what she recommended. She immediately replied, "Farro!"

Farro is one of those interesting bulk grains near the quinoa and teff and amaranth in your local bulk grocery section. It's a kind of wheat. At our food coop, it comes "pearled" (hulled and smoothed out), like barley. I also got the full scoop on what to do with the farro. I'm calling this recipe Farro Tabbouleh.

So you've cooked your farro. To make salad, cut up a red onion or whatever you've got (I used purple scallions), and quick-pickle it by placing it in vinegar. This is red wine vinegar.

Assemble your crunchy summer veg, and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Chopped radish, bell pepper, and cucumber go into the mix.

Since there's always too much zucchini around, I used my zester to create long, finely grated zucchini pieces to add to the mix.

The next Very Important Step is to add herbs. Use whatever is growing nearby (if you can). Here we have parsley, cilantro, and basil. I chopped them up with a mezza luna and threw them into the salad.

Seasonings! Why use salt when you can use Trocomare, aka "herby salt"?! Also I decided to throw in some Za'atar. Hey, farro is apparently from the Middle East.

To complete the dressing, whisk some olive oil into your vinegar pickling mixture. Pour over all and thoroughly incorporate.

Farro tabbouleh seemed like a big hit!


Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1 t salt
• 2 cups farro
• 1 T (generous pour) olive oil
• 3 purple scallions, diced (or 1/2 red onion)
• 1/4 cup red wine (or any) vinegar
• 2 cups or so of summer vegetables, chopped into bite sized pieces (e.g. bell pepper, radish, cucumber, etc.)
• grated or "zested" zucchini, as much as you want (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped herbs (2 large handfuls), such as parsley, cilantro, basil
• 1 T za'atar
• 1 T seasoned salt, such as Trocamare (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Assemblage

1. Bring water to a boil. Add salt. Add farro. Cook for 40 minutes.
2. Fluff farro and add olive oil. Stir to incorporate. At this point you can refrigerate the farro until you're ready for the potluck prep.
3. Make the quick-pickled scallions and set aside.
4. Stir in chopped vegetables, and zucchini if using. (Go crazy and use other vegetables or additions! Feta! Olives! Capers! Etc!)
5. Chop and add desired herbs. Put in lots!!
6. Whisk together your dressing by adding oil to the pickled onion. Mix into salad.
7. Done! If you're not dining right away, refrigerate until ready.

Have you tried farro before?

THANK YOU Mags for the many farro tips! Far out!