The arrival of the warm summer months always inspire us to prepare fresher, quicker meal for the family, such as a simple salad. This mediterranean farro salad is a hearty and healthy meal to prepare for a family picnic or as a quick side salad at a barbeque.
With its nutty flavour and rich texture, farro is an ideal grain to use as a base for fresh summer salads, since it maintains his texture and holds up well to variety of ingredients and dressings. This fresh farro salad is inspired by traditional Mediterranean ingredients, such as sweet cherry tomatoes, earthy basil, creamy pine nuts and tangy extra virgin olive oil.
Although this salad is very light-tasting and resfreshing it’s also filling and hearty, which it makes it an ideal salad to prepare towards the end of summer as a prelude to fall fare, and not to mention a delicious way to use up any lingering produce from your summer garden.
Farro can be prepared in two ways, soaked overnight then cooked, or prepared on the spot. The time it takes to properly cook farro ranges between 20-40 minutes, depending on the consistency desired. If the farro has not been soaked overnight it should be fully cooked and al dente at the 30-35 minute mark. On the contrary, soaking it overnight will reduce the cooking time to about 20-25 minutes.
I love this salad. Pesto and cherry tomatoes are some of my favorite things. Combine them and I am in food heaven! Yummy!
This salad looks so yummy!!! We love Mediterranean food and I will be making this sometime soon.
I love anything with pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes! This sounds like a fabulous summer meal!
Me too! The cherry tomatoes HAVE to be super fresh and local. I can’t even eat tomatoes in the winter because they lack so much flavour…what a difference it makes to pick them right from your own garden!
Oooooo this salad sounds delicious!!! I will definitely be pinning this and trying it out for myself!!! Yummy!!
Thanks for pinning!
wow i just love the finishinng of this mediterranean salad.it seems to be really nce to make in summer.will try it definatly
This sounds like an interesting salad indeed. I would love to try making this to try something different. I have not eaten to much mediterranean foods. Thanks for sharing.
Mediterranean flavours like tomatoes, oregano, olive oil, etc.are really fresh and simple…as long as the quality is top notch!
I’ve never had a salad like this before. It look so delicious and healthy, I’d love to try it 🙂
I’m a huge fan of fresh, grain-based salads during the summer…lettuce-based salads tend to get too mushy from the warm weather!
Never had or even heard of such a salad before but it looks hearty, healthy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe
I never even heard of Farro much less tried it. It does sound like it would make a great base for a salad. Will have to try it.
Not many people have on this thread…it’s actually not every easy to find (depending on the grocery store you go to!).
This looks delicious! I have never had Farro or heard of it before today!
I’m new to mediterranean farro salad. This looks really tasty, rich in flavor and really healthy.
I haven’t made farro or homemade pesto, but this looks delicious!
You should try this…it’s really easy to make! I love making homemade pesto. It’s SO easy! You literally toss the basil, garlic, oil and salt in a blender and puree!
I think I can handle that! 🙂
looks super yummy! i love pesto too. have never tried making greek cuisine and the last time i tried making pesto i broke the blender. 😛
What happened? lol! You should try again..homemade pesto is so much better than store-bought!
haha i think i was just using the wrong type of blender. Wish I knew that before hand!
Live and learn, lol!
This recipe looks absolutely yummy and perfect for summer! Might have to try it for our next get together!
I’ve never had farro before. I would definitely try it though, because I like quinoa. I think it would be a good substitute for rice for me. I don’t eat rice because of the texture and appearance (it freaks me out, I’m weird). I’ll look for this next time I’m at the store!
I think it’s funny that you don’t eat rice…my son is so anti-rice and I just can’t figure out why, lol!
I’m officially hungry and hank you for this recipe. It looks delish! I’m curious to try farro though.
Lol, no problem! If you love whole grains like quinoa, millet, etc then you’ll love farro…it has a texture similar to rice but the flavour is so much nuttier and tastier!
This one makes me hungry, I’ve never tried it looks delicious and tasty. I’d love to make it.
This is right up my alley, and although I’ve never tried farro, I can tell already that it’s something I’d like. I am excited to try this!
Farro is so delicious!!! If you can’t find it you cold substitute with quinoa or brown rice.
That sounds good. I have never even heard of farro before, but now I want to try it.
That’s a great salad to share. You don’t see farro too often, it’s nice to have it make an appearance. Your cherry tomatoes are little beauties. 🙂
I agree that you don’t see faro too often…I’ve been using it quite a bit lately. The more I cook with it the more I love it-it’s a great alternative to rice or quinoa (which I eat ALL the time!). And I can’t take credit for those tomatoes…my in-laws are fantastic gardeners 😉
Yum!!! And fresh cherry tomatoes too. They look delicious! As does your recipe. Thanks for the inspiration Lisa!
Yes, FRESH! We are SO lucky to have a garden full of fresh fruits and veggies all summer long!