I’m experimenting with a new grain this week, farro, and the first thing I wanted to make was a salad. Farro is a delightful chewy grain with a neutral flavor that will make any salad very “meal” worthy. I decided to go a mediterranean route with tomato, cucumber, seasoned and sautéed chickpeas, and my favorite creamy (and vegan) tahini dressing. This Mediterranean Farro Salad was pretty quick to prepare and I can keep the ingredients in the fridge all week to assemble whenever I want a fresh salad.
What is Farro?
Farro is an “ancient grain” with a delightfully chewy texture and nutty flavor. It’s packed with protein and fiber, but has a neutral flavor, which makes it a great addition to salads, bowl meals, skillets, and more. Farro isn’t quite as popular in the U.S. as other grains, so you’re more likely to find it at health food stores or international markets.
How Do You Cook Farro?
Farro is really easy to cook. Like other grains, you simply boil it in water until tender. I suggest making a batch of farro to use throughout the week, so you don’t have to cook it fresh every night. This salad recipe assumes you have farro already cooked. For detailed cooking instructions, check my tutorial on How to Cook Farro.
Can I Use a Different Grain?
Absolutely! If you don’t like farro or can’t find it in your area, you can use bulgur (cracked wheat), couscous, brown rice, or even quinoa in place of the farro.
Mediterranean Farro Salad with Spiced Chickpeas
Servings 4Ingredients
DRESSING
- 1/3 cup tahini ($1.13)
- 1/3 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice ($0.18)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
SPICED CHICKPEAS
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($1.15)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.12)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional) ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper (10-15 cranks of a mill) ($0.03)
- Salt to taste ($0.02)
SALAD
- 3 cups cooked farro (or other grain) ($1.49)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($1.39)
- 1 cucumber ($0.99)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ($0.79)
Instructions
- To make the dressing, combine the tahini, water, lemon juice, minced garlic, cumin, cayenne, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Set the dressing aside until ready to use (keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days).
- Rinse and drain the chickpeas in a colander. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot add the drained chick peas. Sprinkle the smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper (if using), and some freshly cracked pepper over top. Stir the chickpeas to coat in the spices, then continue to sauté for about five minutes, or until the outside of the chickpeas are slightly browned and blistered. Season with salt to taste.
- Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley. Place about 3/4 cup cooked farro in each bowl, then top with chopped tomato, chopped cucumber, spiced chickpeas, and a large pinch of chopped parsley. Drizzle the dressing over top and serve.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Mediterranean Farro Salad – Step by Step Photos
Make the dressing first so that the flavors have a few minutes to mingle. Add 1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste), 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set the dressing aside, or refrigerate for longer storage (up to five days).
Dice two roma tomatoes and one cucumber. Roughly chop about 1/4 bunch parsley (I only chopped a small amount of parsley in the photo).
Rinse and drain a 15oz. can of chickpeas.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet and heat over a medium flame. Add the chickpeas, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne (optional), and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a mill). Stir to coat the chickpeas in oil and spices. Continue to sauté the chickpeas until they get slightly brown and blistered on the outside (about 5 minutes). Season with salt to your liking.
Begin to assemble the bowls by placing about 3/4 cup cooked farro in each bowl, then topping with some diced tomato, cucumber, spiced chickpeas, and a sprinkle of the chopped parsley.
Drizzle the tahini dressing over top.
And now it’s time to eat! There’s so much flavor packed into this one bowl, it’s incredible.
Nomnomnomnomnom…
The dressing is delicious – it tastes just like Annie’s Goddess salad dressing! I also added red onion to mine, because I had it on hand. This makes for a great workday lunch, prepackaged and ready to go!
This looks awesome! I love the idea of blistering the chickpeas with spices on the stove. Do you reheat the chickpeas when assembling salads during the week or eat it cold? If hot, any method you find works better? Looking forward to the other farro recipes as well! I’ve never had farro before but you’ve definitely made made curious.
I just add them cold (because I’m lazy and it still tastes good haha).
I made this last night with your roast eggplant recipe from awhile back. It was fabulous!
This looks great! Winter tomatoes always make me sad, but I’ve found slow roasting them is an easy way to amp up the flavor of even the most wintery winter tomatoes. Can’t wait to try this!
This looks so good. I have some tahini that is begging to be used in something other than hummus!
I loved this! It tasted like falafel in a bowl and I prepped enough for the week. I also had some tzatziki with it on the side. Thanks!
I had everything to make this in my fridge and it is SO GOOD. I didn’t have farro so I used barley and I had some olives in my fridge so I sliced up a few and threw them in the salad too. I don’t know how I’ve never pan roasted chickpeas before – they might be the best part!!!
oh wow this look amazing!
styleandchocolates
This looks so good! I just started eating farro and I love it’s nutty texture. And chickpeas are one of my faves!
Yay, I’m excited for your farro week! We make a huge batch in the rice cooker every couple weeks, use it for veg bowls & sub it for rice in all kindsa stuff. This salad looks great!
How much dried/raw farro do I need to cook to yield 3 cups cooked farro?
One cup of dry farro will make about 3-3.5 cups of cooked farro. :)
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I’m going to work this into my weekly work lunches. Thank you for the great recipe!
This looks delicious in and of itself, but what’s really tempting me is the chickpeas! I’ve never cooked farro either but now I have an excuse to try…
This looks absolutely delicious. I’ve made my list, and I will go shopping tomorrow. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, is there anything else I can substitute for that? This looks so good!
Just use your imagination and sub what you like.
Siced medley of colorful peppers…. cubed, seasoned and roasted butternut squash…. grated carrots
You can just leave them out or you can try adding some red onion, kalamata olives, feta, diced bell pepper… there are a lot of options to make it more rounded without tomatoes. :)
I’m a different Liz than the original commenter and I like tomatoes but WOW – added feta and Kalamata olives as well – excellent suggestion!!
Also added some leftover halibut – also good. I forgot how much I like that tahini dressing. I made it a lot when you posted it previously – thanks for re-posting!
***I am making all of these farro recipes with kasha (roasted buckwheat groats) and they are all working well.