This arugula and farro chopped salad is a delicious combo of texture, taste, color and nutrition! Add whole grains like farro to your salads for diversity and satiety!
A SIMPLE, but not boring SALAD for the win!
We had a fabulous weekend with the kids home for Father’s Day. It was a bit like a camp out given the state of our house with all the renovations going on, but we were all together which matters more than the conditions themselves! The meals I’m making with this make shift kitchen are so much more simple than usual and you know what? It’s been liberating. I’ve been using “kitchen under construction” as an excuse to simplify everything, but you don’t need an excuse to eat in a less complicated way. Just do it!! Make sure you add this arugula + faro salad to the list of simple, healthy, easy recipes you’ve got going.
Grains CAN BE a healthy addition to salad
Faro is higher in fiber than many other whole grains and may have even more positive benefits when it comes to digestion and cardiovascular health. Faro has a rice-light texture and has the same calories and protein as quinoa, but with less fat and more calcium. An awesome choice for including in a salad. Just remember, the greens and the veggies are the main event, the grains are just playing a supporting role. If you adjust the quantities or make substitutions in this recipe for arugula + faro, try to keep the ration between grains and veggies the same.
Health Benefits of Arugula
Arugula is one of my favorite greens to use in salad. (It is also super tasty in this arugula pesto recipe). If you can find fresh, local arugula (rather than bagged/boxed), it’s totally worth the time investment to wash and dry it. The fresh bunched arugula with large leaves has a stronger peppery flavor that adds so much taste to whatever you’re making. Arugula is low in calories and high in nutrition. It is loaded with Vitamin K which is one of the most useful ways to maintain bone density as well as promoting adequate calcium absorption. Arugula also protects the eyes, helps fight cancer, boosts the immune system, fights inflammation, supports weight loss and facilitates the regenerating of muscle and blood blotting.
Components of a winning salad:
I usually eat salad of some sort for lunch. Often, I just chop up whatever greens I have, throw in a few crunchy veggies, some left over grains if I have any, some sort of nut and whip up a simple dressing. It’s anything but boring because the array of options changes depending on what’s in my crisper drawer and what sort of already cooked things I can add in there. This arugula + faro salad was one of those concoctions that checked off all the boxes for me: crunch, taste, nutrition, simplicity—I know you will want to have this salad on repeat all summer long, I already do!
📖 Recipe
Arugula + Faro Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry faro.
- 1 bunch arugula approx. 2 cups. chopped
- 1 cup fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup fresh mint chopped
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame beans, defrosted
- 1 cup thinly sliced radishes
- 3 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 cup almonds roughly chopped
Dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Few grinds black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and drain faro. Place in a pot with ½ teaspoon salt and enough water to completely cover (about 4 cups). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until just tender, 25-30 minutes. Drain cooked faro into a colander and set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the arugula, parsley, mint, edamame, almonds, radish, celery and toss to combine. Add faro and half the dressing. Toss well. Taste for seasonings and add more dressing, as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
susan
I have been thinking about this salad since Deb shared it with me a few weeks back. I’m not sure if it is the farrow, nuts, edamame, or dressing that makes this simple salad so amazing, but trust me it is delicious. I can’t wait to make it.
Debra Klein
Thanks Susan. I’m still obsessed with this one!
susan cohen
One of my favorite salads!