Farro. The Other Ancient Grain.

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Farro. One of Italian cuisine's greatest secrets. The other ancient grain. Completely under appreciated. Unworthy of it's bad rap as finicky to cook.    

It's hearty. Distinctively nutty. Delicious. Easy. And it's my ultimate salad mix-in. If I'm looking to bulk up a salad a bit to make sure I get through to dinner, I throw in a handful of farro and I'm good to go.

I personally prefer the Bob's Red Mill Farro, which is the semipearled variety that is pretty much fool-proof to cook and readily available in most grocery stores. Other varieties require overnight pre-soaking, like a bean, but the semipearled variety will have you good to go in 30 minutes. 

If you can cook pasta, you can cook farro. I promise. 

The week of the Lopate challenge, along with my poached chicken, I immediately whipped up a batch of farro to use throughout the rest of the week. Here's another simple salad using my favorite grain and whatever veggies were left in my crisper that night. 

"Clear Out the Crisper" Farro Salad

 - Arugula 

- Cherry tomatoes (halved)

- Cucumber (sliced and quartered)

- Red onion (diced)

- Poached chicken (shredded)

- Farro

- Balsamic vinegar

- Olive oil

- Salt and pepper

Assemble your bed of arugula and add whatever amount of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and chicken you feel like and have on hand.

For the farro, rinse 1 cup in a colander. Transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with 3 cups of water, or, if you're feeling ambitious and want the farro to carry some extra flavor, stock. Over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. The water may not all cook off (although in my experience it typically does). If necessary drain any excess liquid. Let the farro cool before you add it to the salad, unless you want to really traumatize your greens. 

Add a handful of farro. As usual, mix everything up with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste just before you're ready to eat. 

Promptly impress your coworkers with your mastery of "the other ancient grain."