These past few days have been unusually sunny and warm for January in Michigan, but I’m certainly not complaining about that! The sun has been such a pleasant surprise, and it almost made me feel as if it were fall, not the middle of winter! So in the spirit of things, I decided to make this cozy, fall-inspired farro salad!
One of my absolute favorite grains to cook with (and eat!) is farro. It has a slightly nutty flavor to it, it’s nice and chewy, and it’s a lot heartier than regular rice. Oh and did I mention that it’s absolutely delicious and chock-full of nutrients? Sounds like the perfect ingredient for a salad, if you ask me!
Now that it’s a new year, I’m doing my best to clean stuff out as best I can – whether it’s my bedroom closet (yikes!), bathroom cabinets, or the good old freezer. You know… the place where food goes and never seems to leave? My freezer is absolutely stuffed full right now, so I’ve been doing my best to clean it out and make meals with whatever ingredients I have in there. I still have a ton of leftover cranberries I froze after Thanksgiving, and since the weather makes it feel like Thanksgiving, I decided to go with the theme make a fall-inspired farro salad!
There are a few different components to this dish, so the key is to multi-task and do multiple things at once. Otherwise, you might be in the kitchen for a few hours waiting and waiting, and that’s the last thing we want! But don’t worry – the steps are completely manageable and won’t leave you feeling stressed out!
Since the farro takes the longest to cook, that’s the first thing you’ll want to get started. Simply measure out your dry farro, add it to a medium pot, and then add your liquid. I like to use vegetable broth for added flavor, but chicken broth and water are both great substitutes, as well.
Once the farro is cooking, place a lid on top and move on to the next piece of the dish – the cranberry sauce! To make this, all you have to do is combine your cranberries, fresh orange juice, and honey in a small sauce pan, turn it to medium heat, and wait until it starts to bubble. Once you see it start to bubble and/or hear the cranberries pop, turn the heat down low and use a wooden spoon to gently stir it around and crush the berries.
As time goes on, the cranberries will start to soften and the mixture will begin to thicken. Keep in mind that the goal here isn’t to completely crush the berries (we still want some chunks), but instead, we just want to cook it down just enough so that the cranberries have softened and the mixture has just started to thicken. Usually I find that this takes 6-8 minutes.
Once the cranberries are soft/burst and the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool for 1-2 minutes. This is what my mixture typically looks like after I remove it from the heat:
Then, add the remaining sauce ingredients, mix it all up, and pour it into a small bowl for when you need it.
Meanwhile as the farro continues to cook, get the rest of your ingredients in place: peel and chop the apple, chop the celery, and chop the pecans. Then, mix it all together in a large mixing and wait until the farro is finished cooking.
Once you have all of your pieces ready-to-go, it’s time to mix them all together and finish the dish!
Now do you see why it’s so important to multi-task while you’re making this? Otherwise you would’ve been standing around for 35 minutes waiting for the farro, then waiting another 8 minutes for the cranberries, then waiting a few more minutes to chop up the remaining ingredients!
Once it’s all mixed up, all that’s left to do is stir in some fresh parsley, dish it out into a bowl, and devour!
While this dish tastes absolutely amazing when it’s warm, it’s also great when served cold! Which is perfect, considering this dish makes plenty enough so that you’ll have leftovers.
Enjoy!
Cranberry Apple Farro Salad
Ingredients
Farro
- 1 ½ cups uncooked farro
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water
- 1 TBSP butter
- ½ tsp. ground sage
Cranberry Sauce
- 1 ½ cups cranberries fresh or frozen
- 3 TBSP maple syrup
- Juice of 1 large orange about 1/3 cup
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. each: salt and black pepper
Salad
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 small apples peeled and diced
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 3 TBSP fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Farro: Add the uncooked farro and broth to a small pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the butter and ground sage.
- Turn the heat down to low (or simmer), cover with a lid, and let cook for 25-35 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Meanwhile, in another medium pot, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, and orange juice. Bring to a boil, and then cook until cranberries have burst and mixture starts to thicken, about 6-8 minutes.
- As the cranberry mixture cooks and the berries begin to soften, use a wooden spoon to poke the berries and break them into small chunks. Keep in mind that you don’t want to completely break them apart – you still want some small chunks.
- Once cranberry mixture has thickened and as is done cooking, remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 2-3 minutes. After that, stir in the Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
- Next, chop up the apples, celery, parsley, and walnuts, and toss them together in a large mixing bowl.
- After the farro is done cooking, use a fork to fluff it up a little bit, and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
- Combine the slightly-cooled farro with the cranberry mixture and the chopped apple mixture, and toss everything together.
- Serve warm or cooled.
