Farro, the ancient grain. You have to love it. Its nutty taste along with its unique texture makes for a great addition to any healthy eating regimen. It’s whole grain (hence the nice chew) and can be used in all sorts of ways. I suggest it for a risotto, as a replacement to oatmeal or added to soup. Here it’s used in a salad that is great served at room temp or cold throughout the week. Salad Burnet is a somewhat rare herb that I came across at the farmers’ market–it tastes like cucumber but in leaf form. If you can’t find it, I’d add a chopped persian cucumber or two to your salad to get that similar taste as it pairs well with the feta.

Sometimes I make extra farro and freeze it–you can use it for breakfast reheated with nutmeg, cinnamon and milk.Sugar Snap Peas add great crunch. This is a Raw Goat Milk Feta from Drake Family Farms–amazing taste and crumble. Any feta will do of course, but this stuff is great.  This is such an interesting herb–I’m going to start growing it in the herb garden as its strong cucumber taste without an actual cucumber can spice up a lot; I’m thinking cucumber margaritas. You can add more arugula and other leafy greens to the mix if you want more of a true salad, but the farro is great. Enjoy. This is great for a leisurely and healthy relaxing lunch with a glass of white wine, or brought to work and served cold out of tupperware for a quick lunch.

INGREDIENTS
– 14 Oz. Farro (Buy Farro Perlato)
– 1/2 Red Onion (Diced)
– 1 Lemon (For Juice)
– 2 Cups Cherry Tomatoes (Halved)
– 2 Cups Snap Peas (Cut into bite size pieces, approximately 3 per pea)
– 4 Oz. Feta (Crumbled)
– 1 Bunch Salad Burnet (Chopped)
– 3 Cups Baby Arugula
– 1 tsp. olive oil
– 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
– 2 Bay Leaves
– 5 Cups Water
– Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

DIRECTIONS

1) Rinse farro with cold water and drain. Then add to a medium saucepan along with 5 cups of cool water. Add bay leaves along with a pinch of sea salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once at a boil, stir then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. The farro should be tender but still have a bit of crunch to it. Drain any excess liquid then fluff with a fork. Place in a large bowl to cool while you prepare the vegetables.

2) Wash and dry vegetables, greens, herbs and lemons.

3) Dice red onion. Chop salad burnet. Halve cherry tomatoes and cut snap peas. Place to the side.

4) Add baby arugula and salad burnet to farro and toss. Then add red onion, cherry tomatoes and snap peas. Toss.

5) Crumble feta over the salad mixture, add 1 teaspoon of both olive oil and red wine vinegar. Then add the juice of one lemon along with fresh ground pepper. Toss.

6) Serve slightly warm or refrigerate and store. The salad will be good for three days.