Another salad added to my repertoire is this farro salad with grilled vegetables. I got the inspiration for this from one of Bobby Flay’s shows. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember which show it was; probably “Boy Meets Grill” since there is plenty of grilling going on for this dish. There is grilled eggplant, which yields an incredible flavor, grilled red onion, and grilled tomatoes! The veggies get tossed in sherry vinaigrette with farro.



Before this dish, I had never cooked with farro. For those of you who may not know, Google it! Actually it is a nutty tasting grain similar to spelt. If you don’t know what spelt is, it’s a grain similar to farro. I had seen it, farro that is, as an ingredient in a few blogs here and there, so when I saw a bag of it in Whole Paycheck, I snagged some. Funny thing about that, the farro had no cooking instructions! So, I Googled, and found several different methods depending on the type of farro. This was confusing! One site would have me soak the farro for 8 hours and then soft boil it for 2 hours. I kept thinking “this is grain” not beans! Turns out, I had semi-pearled farro. This significantly cuts the cooking time. It only took about 20 minutes. I started tasting at 15 minutes in. I can say that I am impressed with this grain. It is the mother of all grains; it’s the “OG", original gangster grain from which all others are derived and also fed the ancient Egyptians. Apparently on the nutrition front, farro is a powerhouse packing fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C and E! I’m diggin’ this. So, go get you some farro, semi-pearled please so you don’t have to crack, hull, and soak it yourself.

In my last post I wrote about my minor “set back” which is having gained more weight than my knees care to carry. Progress is being made. There is no noticeable weight loss as of yet as I still resemble Buddha, just with an slightly aging athletic build. I have, however, been committed to a workout plan and I am finally, after several sore body episodes, able to workout every day. The goal is twice a day, once on the morning and then after work. That plan may get altered a bit though as it is 100 degrees here and my garage has no air conditioning. Thanks to all the well wishers comments on my last post. Very encouraging.

So here is another delicious salad I highly suggest that you make. This is one of those, “hey we just grilled some whatever and don’t know what to do with all this heat leftover.” I knew I was going to be grilling steaks so I planned ahead to use the residual heat for the veggies in this salad.

Follow up:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup farro (semi-pearled otherwise you’re on your own!)

 
   * note: you can salt the eggplant slices, put them on a 
   * paper towel and put somthing heavy on them to drain 
   * them - I didn't

1/4 cup fresh dill finely chopped
1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes halved
1/2 red onion (or 1 small) sliced
Olive oil (for tossing veggies - about 1/4 cup)
S&P
Sherry vinaigrette (recipe follows)

METHOD:

Add farro to large pot of heavily salted boiling water.

Cook for about 15 minutes then begin tasting. You want some chew to it.

When farro is done, remove, drain, and place in a bowl.

Brush the eggplant lightly with olive oil on one side. You brush the other side when you put it on the grill.

Grill the eggplant (oiled side down) over high heat just until soft, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Remove eggplant and dice into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes.

In a large bowl, toss the onions and tomatoes with some olive oil, just to coat. Season with S&P

Grill the onions and tomatoes until soft.

Add the vegetables and dill to the farro.

Add the vinaigrette and toss.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Sherry Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS:
1 shallot finely diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp salsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
S&P

METHOD

Everything, but the olive oil into a bowl.

Whisk to combine.

Slowly drizzle in oil.