Here is a great salad recipe that uses whole grains and is both tasty and healthy. The farro and crunchy nuts give it a lovely texture, and the flavors are light and sweet.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup farro
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup chopped tart green apple
- ¾ cup dried cherries
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Whisk oil, maple syrup, vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a bowl until dressing is smooth.
- Cook and stir walnuts in a small skillet over low heat until toasted and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Bring chicken broth, farro, oregano, and basil to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, cover with a lid, and let sit until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes. Transfer farro to a glass bowl and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes more.
- Mix walnuts, green apples, dried cherries, and parsley into farro. Drizzle dressing over farro mixture and toss to coat; refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes.
- I have also substituted celery or jicama in place of the apple; it adds crunch and color but prefer the apple for taste.
- Vegetable broth can be substituted for chicken broth. Honey can be substituted for maple syrup.
- For this recipe, use par-boiled Italian farro or spelt.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 329 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 2 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 600 mg |
| Sugars | 19 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great flavors and will definitely make again. Very attractive dish as well
It’s definitely an odd recipe. We will eat it, but won’t make it again.
It just wasn’t what I was looking for
Just made it tonight to go with my Eggplant stew. Nice side dish compliment. I think I would like to try dried cranberries instead of the cherries. The cherries gave it an odd flavor. The chopped apple was perfect amount of crunch.
I wish I could give this more stars! I omitted sugar and cooked farro in water. I would eat this for breakfast, lunch or as a light dinner. It is so good; sweet enough but not overwhelmingly so, with just enough tartness. Great combination of textures and tastes.
This is such a hearty & fresh salad, my husband & I loved this Salad!! I added 2 items to ingredient list, 1 stalk celery diced into very small cubes., 1 small lemon —zested, & juice of 1/2 of the lemon. Used 1/2 dried Cranberries & 1/2 dried Cherries, as that’s what I had on-hand I omitted the 2 tsp. Of sugar….not sure why it’s needed? The pearalize Farro, I cooked per package directions…a 2:1 ratio of water(or stock) to Farro. Next time I’d cook to Aldente for a little more chewy texture as I’ve found all ingredients soak up the vinegrette.
Using the recipe as written, this was not worth making. I think it has potential but was quite disappointed with the results after spending so much time. 1) 2.5 cups of broth is too much for 1 cup farro. It came out slimy and with extra liquid that had to be drained off. I should have followed other recipes I have that say 1 to 2. 2) Why the weird directions of boiling 10 minutes then sit for 30. Wish I’d just made it normally and boiled for 25 minutes. 3) There’s too much dressing overall and too large a ratio of oil and sugar (syrup) to make this a healthy option which most people bothering to cook farro probably care about. I think it would work though with less of both 4) Lastly, didn’t think the flavors were amazing together, just okay. Maybe needs some other major ingredient. As it is, it’s like eating wet farro with a tiny bit of fruit sprinkled in.
Awesome. Didn’t change a thing.
Italian farro was new to me – and thank goodness I found it! This is a wonderful recipe – not too tart not too sweet. Just perfect.
This was a great side dish! Sweet and tart with great texture from the walnuts. I left out the white sugar like previous reviewers did and thought it was sweet enough just from the maple syrup. I used all the dressing and put it in the fridge overnight and a lot of the dressing absorbed, like the author suggested. Will definitely make this again! Thanks!!
I didn’t have dried cherries, so substituted the crasins as others have done. I haven’t opened my jug of maple syrup, and didn’t want to because it’s such s small amount, so substituted honey instead. I added a cup a cooked amaranth to increase the protein. It had a bit more earthy flavor, but still tasted great.
Was very tasty.
I had already cooked my farro in water so I didn’t end up using any broth and it was still delicious. I just added the spices to the vinaigrette. Agree with other users that craisins work as a great substitute to the dried cherries.
Delicious and very different! The chicken broth is salty enough, so next time I would omit the added salt. This would also be good with dried cranberries.
Delicious! The combination of the slightly chewy farro, the crunchy apples and walnuts, and the sweet cherries was very satisfying. I omitted the sugar from the dressing having found that the maple syrup supplied all of the needed sweetness. Right before serving I mixed in about 3 cups of fresh baby spinach. Yum!
Loved it!! Perhaps next time I will grill up some chicken and add that too.
I didn’t have farro or barley… I used kamut instead and also swapped the dried cherries for dried cranberries. It was so refreshing and delicious, I can’t wait to make it again. Next time I might try to reduce the amount of maple syrup and eliminate the white sugar altogether.
Loved it!! I made this for a bridal shower where we served several different types of salads. It was a big hit, and several people asked for the recipe. The recipe is flexible- you could do craisins and pears instead of cherries and apples, or dried appricots and feta. Or add chopped pecans and mushrooms. The possibilities are endless.
Perhaps next time add about 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/2 minced shallot to the dressing mixture. Also adding about 1/2 tsp lemon pepper after everything is mixed together. Add juice of 1/4-1/2 lemon.
Fabulous side dish. It’s sweet, but not over the top – well balanced. Great colors and textures with the farro, apples and nuts. I’ve been looking for more farro recipes and this one is a keeper! I substituted pine nuts (since I dislike walnuts). You can use a little less broth and there is also plenty of extra vinaigrette – so you can cut back there or just serve with a slotted spoon.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe; yes the vinaigrette makes plenty so add what you need and there’s extra if you are wanting to make it a day ahead, it tends to absorb some. ~ One thing was left out of the directions, after mixing the vinaigrette, you want to put it in the fridge to chill. If you like your Farrro softer you can cook five minutes longer. Enjoy! 🙂