This farro rainbow Mediterranean salad is light, fresh and simple. With only a handful of ingredients, it qualifies as an easy recipe. Yet it packs such a flavor punch and is so visually beautiful that it will impress anyone. It tastes sweet and punchy, herbal and earthy. You will love this as a picnic side salad or the base for your favorite protein on a warm afternoon or balmy evening.
Why you will love this Farro Salad
This Farro Rainbow Mediterranean Salad is the perfect light meal. It reminds me of dinners on the deck or picnics in the park. Though the flavors scream summer, all of the ingredients are available year round. It features garden fresh ingredients like cucumbers, herbs and cherry tomatoes. In Summer, grab them right out of the garden. In Winter buy the sweetest and most colorful cherry tomatoes you can find. Always use baby bell peppers as they have the best flavor and Persian cucumbers because they aren't seedy or bitter. These are the components that make this Farro Rainbow Mediterranean Salad pretty and tasty.
What is Farro?
The star of this summery salad is the farro. If you haven't tried farro yet, you are missing out! Farro is an ancient grain that makes great salads. It is hearty, nutty and firm and holds up very well to dressing without getting soggy or swollen. The flavor of farro is quite mild and versatile, which lends it to many preparations. Farro needs a very flavorful dressing like this to really make it shine. And shine it does in this chilled salad.
Ingredients for Farro Rainbow Mediterranean Salad
This salad has a small ingredients list. Let's dive in:
- Farro: Farro is the body of this salad. It is firm, hardy and filling. It reminds me a little of if barley and bulgur had a baby! This is definitely not rice. It is not a fluffy grain, it has a much sturdier texture.
- Tomatoes: When choosing tomatoes for a salad, always go for cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes as they have the most flavor year round. When there are no small flavor bomb or sugar bomb varieties available, the next choice would be compari tomatoes.
- Cucumbers: Cucumbers give this salad a hydrating crunch! I like Persian or English cucumbers my faves but the ones that come from your garden are the best.
- Peppers: Baby bell peppers are the sweetest and most colorful. They keep the longest in the refrigerator and give such a nice fresh pop of flavor and vibrancy to any dish. Of course you can use regular bell peppers instead. One full sized bell peppers is the equivalent of 3-4 baby bell peppers in volume.
- Olives: We love calamata olives in this recipe. Feel free to use whichever type of olives you have on hand. But the calamata olive has such a distinct tang that bumps up the flavor of this salad.
- Herbs- This summer salad recipe uses both fresh herbs and dried herbs. We use fresh basil in the salad and dried Italian seasoning in the dressing. Both herbs really bump up the flavor.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil- Olive oil is the base for the dressing. You can certainly leave out the oil if you prefer oil free.
- Vinegar, Lemon and Pure Maple Syrup These three make the dressing tangy and sweet. The lemon gives it a more Mediterranean vibe but the dressing is definitely punchy!
How to make Farro Mediterranean Salad
This salad is so easy to make. It is ready in 30 minutes or less and has just a few steps!
- Cook the farro- Follow the directions on the box. If you are lucky and have a Trader Joes's near you, buy theirs. Their farro cooks in 10 minutes! Cooking farro is easy, just boil, rinse, drain and cool.
- Chop all the veggies: While the farro cooks, just cut up the tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and herbs. This is a really quick step.
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl or jar combine the dressing ingredients and mix. It's that simple.
- Toss the salad: Once you have all the components prepared put them in a bowl and mix until combined. Easy!
Variations of Farro Rainbow Mediterranean Salad
Since my readers are forever jazz cooking, which I love, I am including ways to improvise on this recipe. Let's see if I can proactively answer any questions about substitutes.
- Is farro gluten free? No! Farro is absolutely not a gluten free food. If you have gluten intolerance, I suggest substituting quinoa, brown rice or even a gluten free pasta like chickpea or lentil pasta for the farro.
- Where is the protein? This side salad has about 11g of protein per serving. If that is not enough for your protein needs, I suggest adding chickpeas, white beans or lentils to this salad. If you prefer to add an animal protein like grilled chicken, grilled steak, grilled fish or gilled shrimp, you will really love that. The predominant flavors of this salad will go well with many things.
- What can I add to bulk it up? This summery salad will be really delicious with roasted cauliflower or broccoli. Just roast the florets tossed with a little olive oil and salt on a sheet pan for 20 minutes while you make the rest of the recipe. Slivered almonds would also be a great addition.
- Make it a pasta salad! If you feel like being less adventurous or if you can't find farro in the store, sub pasta. A textural pasta like rotini, shells or fusilli will make this a delicious pasta salad perfect for a BBQ.
Farro Rainbow Mediterranean Salad
Equipment
- stovetop, large saucepan for farro, bowl for mixing
Ingredients
- 2 cups farro cooked and chilled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 baby bell peppers deseeded and chopped
- 10 calamata olives pitted and chopped
- ¼ bunch basil chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 cucumber diced small
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
- ½ lemon squeezed
- ¼ tsp italian seasoning
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper optional
- 1 salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the farro according to package, rinse, drain, let cool
- Mix tomatoes, cucumber, olives, farro, olives and basil in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix oil, vinegar, maple syrup, lemon, salt, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper with a fork
- Toss the farro salad well with the dressing.
- Chill and eat within 3 days.
Sandra Lara
This is one of my favorite recipes for plant based eating … protein I add either of the following edamame, black beans or chickpeas.
I thank you for such a great meal
Sara Tercero
Thank you so much! I am so glad you like it!