Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Basil
Both light and hearty (and delicious!), this salad is everything you need to keep you going during a busy day. Or serve it as a side dish along with grilled chicken or salmon for dinner.
If you’ve hung around this website much, you might get the impression that all I eat are cookies and cake. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong— I do indulge in sweets a little too much. But when I’m not stuffing my face with something sweet, odds are I’m enjoying something on the healthier side. You know, to balance out all that sugar.
Like this farro salad with fresh tomatoes and basil.
The other day I was flipping through an old cookbook, falling in love with it all over again, when I stumbled across this recipe. When I bought the cookbook 8 years ago I’m sure I skipped right over it. Farro? What? But now farro is my fave and this time it was the first recipe doggy-eared, and enjoyed the very next day.
If you and farro aren’t best buds yet, you need to get on that! And pick up some fresh tomatoes and basil at the market before they’re gone for the season, too. I know it’s technically fall and everything, but the weather and my garden beg to differ, and so until they catch up— this salad is all I’ll be eating.
baking tip:What is farro?
Apparently there is some confusion over exactly what farro is. But to try to sum up, it is an ancient grain made from certain cereal wheat species. Similar to pasta, it is boiled in salted water before eaten, and it has a characteristic nutty flavor and chewy texture.
You can find it next to other grains like rice in a well-stocked grocery store. Look for a semi-pearled variety, which has had the bran removed to make for quicker cooking. Whole grain farro requires soaking overnight.
Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups farro (285 grams)
- 2 teaspoons salt , divided
- 1 large clove of garlic , finely minced
- 2 tablespoons sweet onion , thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes , halved
- ¼ cup packed basil , chopped
- Additional salt and pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Bring approximately 6 cups of water to a boil on the stove. Season with 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Add farro and cook until al dente, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, garlic, sweet onion, balsamic vinegar, pepper and olive oil. Add to the cooled farro and toss until incorporated. Stir in the sliced tomatoes and basil. Serve.
8 Comments on “Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Basil”
Such a pretty farro salad! This sounds great 🙂
I love love love farro. I’ve discovered it a couple of years ago and have been in love with it ever since! It’s perfect to give some body to otherwise really light soups but I like to use it instead of rice in my risotto-recipes, too. Uhm…probably I should call them orzottos, then.
Anyway…this recipe looks delicious, healthy but flavorful and it would be perfect for a brown-bag kind of lunch!
xo, Elisa
I’ve never made risotto with farro – definitely doing that asap! Sounds fabulous!
This sounds so yummy! Love that shot of the tomatoes!
Thanks Laura! 🙂
Bravissima, Annalise! Farro is one of my favorite grains and a staple in my pantry. It’s also wonderful in soups.
It’s been a salad staple of mine from the summer, and now I’m looking forward to putting it into some fall soups! You’ve probably known about farro forever, and I’m a little late to the party. Time to catch up!
What a fun farro salad and I have so many fresh tomatoes that I can use for it.