The Recipe Redux team served up another great challenge this month! Entitled “A Whole New Grain”, we were asked to move beyond whole wheat and oatmeal and cook with a unfamiliar grain. There are really so many great grains to choose from now in the grocery store, like barley, bulgur, wheatberries, & quinoa (which is in a different botanical family, but is considered a pseudo-grain for its nutritional profile and similar uses as other grains). The new grain to me, though, is farro (pronounced FAR-OH). An old Italian favorite, farro has been popping up in America more recently. While dining at Flyte a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of trying farro in their heavenly Wedge Oak Farm “Red Ranger” Chicken dish.
I went a different route with my farro and did a cold salad instead. And in the spirit of the holidays, I threw in some fresh cranberries. So if you have extra cranberries after Thanksgiving, here’s one way to get rid of them!
Cranberry-Farro Salad
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup farro
1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1/2 Tbsp. honey
Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, add farro and enough water to cover. Bring water to a boil and then reduce to medium-low heat, cooking for 25 minutes or until farro is soft, but still slightly chewy. You may need to add some additional water during the cooking process.
2. While farro is cooking, place cranberries, sugar, and water in a large skillet. Stir cranberries, allowing sugar to be dissolved. Cook cranberries over medium heat until they start to break open. Reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Once farro is cooked through, drain water and allow to cool.
4. In a small bowl, mix together rice vinegar and honey.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together farro, red onion, celery, cranberries (including syrup), and honey-vinegar dressing.
6. Serve chilled.
This could even be used as an alternative to cornbread dressing at your Thanksgiving meal!
Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving,
Karman