Farro is my new favorite whole grain, which I call the powerhouse grain. I love the chewiness and the versatility of using this grain in cold or hot dishes like this Farro Salad recipe. It cooks up just like rice and you can add various flavors to enhance its basic taste.
Farro contains close to 25% of your daily recommended iron intake and includes a plethora of essential nutrients to keep you running optimally.
In Italy, Farro is used in many dishes like soups, bread, and pasta. You can also make dishes using this grain in your breakfast oatmeal or dessert. Try these other farro recipes offered here on Plant-Based Cooking: Instant Pot White Bean Soup with Garlic, Mushrooms, and Farro or Vegetable Soup with Farro.
While it is not the most common grain, you can find it at most health food stores these days, as it does provide a higher nutritional punch than its cousin rice.
Buying semi-peeled farro would make cooking simpler, taking a shorter time to cook, but does mean some of its nutritional value is a bit less than the whole grain.
Farro Grain Benefits
There are some amazing health benefits to eating farro, some of which include it to be high in complex carbs which regulate your blood sugar and reduce cholesterol.
There are 200 calories in one cup of cooked farro (I use about a half cup per serving when mixing with veggies), a low 2 grams of fat, and close to 8 grams of cholesterol-reducing fiber, which is 4 times the amount found in brown rice!
For this particular farro salad calories, there are only 190 in this recipe! It makes this hearty grain salad a perfect addition to your weekly meal plan.
It also contains zinc and other minerals which offer better heart health and an overall protective immunity boost.
Adding whole grains to your dishes is healthy, hearty, and delicious:
- Whole Grain Muesli
- Green Goddess Grain Bowl
- Chai Spice Apple Muffins
- Barley Bean Salad with Cauliflower Rice
Another wonderful benefit for women is that this grain is high in magnesium content, which is wonderful for menstrual cramps and boosting your mood.
I like the addition of beans in this vegan farro recipe for your daily hearty dose of fiber, protein, immune-boosting antioxidants, and minerals. Feel free to mix up the additions, as other chopped veggies can work quite well, too.
Some ideas might include sun-dried tomatoes, radishes, arugula, orange sections, mushrooms, kale, peppers, or tomatoes…adding nuts like walnuts, and fresh herbs like mint.
I love the versatility of this farro whole grain. I could eat one of these salads every week! Make a lighter version for summer using a lemon vinaigrette or a hearty warm version for autumn and winter using sweet potato, mushrooms, and leafy greens. What variations would you use?
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Farro Salad recipe! If you have a photo, post it on Instagram, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
This recipe is Certified Plantricious because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- Sodium (mg) to Calories ratio, 1 ≤ 1
- Total Fiber to Calories, 2g ≥ 100 calories
Farro Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro rinsed and cooked according to directions on the package
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 3-5 leaves Swiss chard chopped and steamed
- 1 red peppers seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cucumber peeled and chopped
- 1/2 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup almonds chopped or slivered
- 3 Tbl red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbl fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook farro according to directions.
- In a salad bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the farro, red onion, swiss chard, peppers, cucumbers, kidneys beans and almonds.
- Mix well and serve.
I don’t see tomatoes in the ingredient list.
Hey Cindy, I see they’re listed in the description, oopsy. I think if you were to use them, it’d be better to add sun-dried tomatoes. I’m going to remove it from the description as the actual recipe doesn’t have them. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!