Farro Caprese Salad

All you need are 7 simple ingredients to whip up this delicious and flavorful farro caprese salad. A perfect vegetarian grain salad that is filling and satisfying.

I was looking at my content calendar the other day and noticed a trend in recipes for this summer. They either a) involve peaches or b) are a salad of some sort. Peaches and salads pretty much sum up this summer for me. I’m not mad about it. Although to be fair there isn’t much competition for anything else this summer😂

I’m anxiously awaiting my cherry tomatoes to come in to make this farro caprese salad. I’ve been picking up tomatoes from the farmer’s market but man am I excited to make this with my homegrown tomatoes. I’ve got a few babies coming in that should be ripe in the next week or two. We have three tomato plants and while my patience is waning, I know in a few weeks I’m going to have wayyyyy too many tomatoes on my hands to know what to do with. So far I’ve got my pacifica salad, summer panzanella salad and now this farro caprese salad on the list!

I also suspect I’ll be canning quite a few jars of diced and/or crushed tomatoes and potentially some tomato sauce too! Summer 2020 will always be remembered as the summer of peaches, salads and me desperately staring at my tomato plants waiting for them to ripen…

 

What You Need:

• Dry Whole Farro
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Mozzarella – I like using mozzarella balls (also called ciliegene) but you can also use whole mozzarella and cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Fresh Basil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Salt + Pepper

What is Farro?

Farro is a type of grain made from wheat plant. It is super high in fibre and protein and is considered an “ancient grain” meaning it has been largely unchanged in the last few hundred years (unlike highly processed wheat). It maintains its crunch which makes it a great option for grain salads and due to its high protein amounts it’s an awesome plant source of protein.

Farro comes in 3 varieties: pearled, semi-pearled and whole. Pearled or semi-pearled farro have some or all of the outer husk removed whereas whole farro maintains its husk. The benefit of pearled or semi-pearled farro is that it cooks faster, however you lose a lot of the nutrition and fiber.

Typically farro is cooked in a 1:3 ratio meaning 1 cup of farro to 3 cups of liquid (water or stock). Whole farro takes a bit longer to cook because it is a whole grain with a tough outer shell. Expect a cook time of 25-30 minutes. You’ll cook it more like pasta where you’ll strain out any remaining water. Pearled or semi-pearled farro can be cooked more like oatmeal or rice where all of the water is absorbed into the grain and you do not need to strain.

Is farro gluten-free? Unfortunately farro is not gluten-free as it comes from the wheat plant. However you can easily sub a different gluten-free grain in place of farro in this recipe. Some options include quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth or millet.

How to Make Farro Caprese Salad:

This farro caprese salad is super easy to make. It really involves just a few simple steps:

STEP 1: Cook farro in a 1:3 ratio in either water or stock. Strain farro as you would pasta. More detailed instructions below.

STEP 2: Once farro has cooled, combine in a large bowl with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella + basil.

STEP 3: Top with balsamic, olive oil and salt and pepper.

That’s it! This farro caprese salad will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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Like this farro caprese salad? Here are some other grain salads you might enjoy:

• Israeli Quinoa Salad
• Harvest Grain Salad
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts + Farro Salad
• Watermelon Quinoa Salad