Italian farro salad with white beans
Chewy, nutty farro with creamy white beans, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and parmesan in a zippy Italian dressing, and it only gets better by Friday.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.48 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 cup farro
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives, halved
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
- ½ cup parmesan wedge, shaved
- ¼ cup fresh basil, torn (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 500 calories, 18 g protein, 58 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $2.48 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No Kalamata olives? Black olives work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No parmesan wedge? Grated parmesan works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the farro and add it to a pot of water with 1 teaspoon of the salt, like pasta. Boil on medium-high 20 to 30 minutes, until chewy-tender.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Medium-high heatTimer: 25 min
Dolly’s tip: Start tasting at 20 minutes. It should be tender with a little bounce, like al dente pasta.and spread it on a plate to cool for 10 minutes.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 10 min
In a big bowl, the oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper and the rest of the salt.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
the beans and artichokes, quarter the artichokes, the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach, and the olives.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
the farro with the dressing, then add everything else and toss again.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Shave the parmesan over the top with a vegetable peeler and scatter the basil.
Dolly’s tip: Farro stays chewy for days instead of going soft, so this keeps 4 days in the fridge. Stir it before you pack it.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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