Besides the Orange and Pecan Salad with Red Onion Dressing, Michelle also prepared another side dish for the South Arm Seniors Kitchen. The seniors had expressed their interest in learning more about grains.
Michelle brought a grain called Farro to make a simple side dish. There are other grains which are very similar to farro like emmer, spelt and einkorn. Barley also has similar characteristic as farro and so, you may substitute farro with barley in recipes. Farro can be eaten plain or used in salad and soups.
Here is the recipe for a spelt salad and some barley soups (Herbed Lentil and Barley Soup, Hearty Bean Barley Soup, Barley Yogurt Soup and Mushroom, Barley and lentil Soup) that I had blogged before.
Farro is sold dried and is prepared by cooking in water for about an hour or more until soft, but still crunchy (it is recommended first soaking the farro over night). The ratio of water to grain to cook the farro is 2 to 1.
The farro that Michelle brought is the pearled version which takes a much shorter time to cook, about 15 minutes. Michelle bought it from …Costco a couple months ago but she was not able to find it anymore. Anyone know where can we find the pearled farro?
Michelle cooked the farro with some vegetable broth. The ratio of liquid to cook the pearled farro is 1 1/5 times of the grain. Bring the liquid to a boil and lower heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the farro is tender.
The farro is very flavourful since it’s cooked in broth. It has a nutty flavour and we enjoyed it very much.
Michelle also prepared a festive Cranberry Soda for the lunch.
- Mix together in each cup (per serving):
- 1/2 cup of 100% cranberry juice
- 1/2 cup of sparkling soda
- limes, cut up on the side or squeezed into the cup.
The lime juice makes this drink very refreshing.
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The Earthly Choice Farro is BACK at Costco, but it may only be at the Scottsdale Raintree one. 3 lbs. for only $7 and some cents. The two recipes on the back of the bag are excellent!
You can buy Farro at Nuts.com.
I’ve purchased farro at Whole Foods Market and local health foood stores. It’s easy to prepare and delicious.
Costco stopped carrying it because it did not sell very well.
I bought some pearled farro at Gourmet Warehouse in November. They also had the regular kind. I’m guessing the prices are higher than at Costco though :-). We had a farro and mushroom “risotto” in San Francisco that was delicious and got me interested in this ancient grain.