About this salad
This farro salad with chickpeas can easily be adapted. You can use different grains like rice, quinoa, barley, or orzo—Use the vegetable you have on hand—the same with roasted vegetables. Use cauliflower or broccoli. Use green beans, broccolini, or asparagus. Use the vegetable that you have on hand.
Same with chickpeas. Switch them up with navy beans, lentils, etc., or any other legume you love.
I bet you’ve heard a lot about Farro if you are a superfood lover like me. Farro is one of the ancestral grains like freekeh and Kamut. It is a type of wheat, and hopefully, you will fall in love with it as I did when I first tried it. This Farro salad with roasted cauliflower is a great way to start including it in our diet.
Ingredients
Salad
- Farro
- Cauliflower
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Beans
- Greens
ROMESCO
- Roasted red bell peppers
- Slivered almonds
- Sherry vinegar or red wine
- Garlic
- Olive oil
How to make the salad
- Cook your grains.
- Roast the cauliflower.
- Make the romesco.
- Prepare your beans.
- Build your salad
Tips for making the best salad
- If you don’t like raw garlic, roast the garlic with cauliflower. When roasting garlic, leave the skin on and ensure it is fully covered with oil, protecting the clove from burning.
- I always double up on the romesco sauce and love to have it in the fridge for other dishes, like the veggie kebabs.
Farro with Roasted Cauliflower and Romesco Salad
Equipment
- Baking sheets
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked farro
- 1 cauliflower head
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
- 4 handfuls of greens (spinack, baby kale, lettuce, etc.)
Romesco
- 2 roasted red bell peppers can be from a jar
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Boil 1½ cups of uncooked farro in four cups of water witha good pinch of salt. Check every 5-7 minutes, when ready, drain it and set it aside.
- Meanwhile, the farro is cooking, cut the cauliflower into pieces. Make sure they are in similar sizes so they can roast evenly. Put them in a pan prepared with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, two pinches of salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well so that all cauliflower is well coated.
- Put in the oven until golden, about 15 minutes.
- To make the romesco sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until everything is well integrated and smooth. Add one tablespoon of water if the blender is not running properly. Check for salt, pepper, and vinegar.
- To assemble the salad, put the cooked farro, chickpeas, green leaves cut into bite pieces, and roasted cauliflower in a salad bowl. Mix and serve with a spoonful of romesco sauce on top.
Nutrition
information
Nutritional information of this recipe is only an estimate, the accuracy for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
WHAT IS FARRO?
Farro is an ancient wheat grain high in protein and fiber. It has a nutty flavor and chewy texture, is versatile, and is downright delicious. Farro has a chewy consistency and a nuttier flavor. It is perfect for salads because it doesn’t get mushy and holds its shape perfectly well.
Another thing I love about farro is that it is an ancestral grain. What this means is that it has not been modified from its origin. It is the same as it has been years and years ago.
How to cook farro?
- I like to cook farro, like pasta, in a pot with salted boiling water.
- Like other grains, farro benefits from soaking it for some hours before cooking it or overnight. But always check the package instructions.
- When cooking farro, like pasta, I check for doneness every 5-7 min. Even though it has a chewy texture, you will notice when it is done.
- Think of it as when checking pasta or rice; it should be al dente but still cooked thoroughly.
Salad variations
This recipe for farro salad is perfect if you are batch cooking or need to pack lunch or dinner. Have all the ingredients cooked and the greens washed and ready to go in the fridge.
Serve the salad with romesco, this flavorful and tangy sauce made from almonds and roasted red bell peppers, or use your favorite dressing. Maybe magic cilantro dressing, vegan Caesar salad, or homemade ranch.
This salad, like other salads on my blog, is perfect as a to-go meal; it is an ideal staple recipe and 100% adaptable to your pantry or taste.
Tengo una Certificación Profesional en la cocina vegana; en el mundo de la cocina basada en vegetales, frutas, granos, leguminosas… en comida limpia, orgánica y vegana.
My cookbook is called Yo Cocino Latino..
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