Farro Chopped Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette Recipe - Pamela Salzman Skip to content

Farro Chopped Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette Recipe

This post is sponsored by the Florida Department of Citrus. All opinions are my own.

When the school year ends, my brain shifts from making breakfast-lunch-dinner mode to wanting to have my friends over for dinner all the time!  I stop thinking about sheet pan dinners and batch cooking minestrone soup and instead obsess over combinations for grilled pizza and hoard stone fruit for crisps and galettes.

I have actually had a few friends over in the last few weeks, two people at a time, and it was so nice.  Even better, the weather is warming up so we’ll be able to sit outside to enjoy mimosas with Florida Orange Juice without freezing our unmanicured toes.  This summer will mean lighter food, staying hydrated, and getting back to a pre-quarantine, healthy style of eating.  My friends tend to share my style of eating, which is fresh and vibrant, but flavorful and satisfying!

This Farro Chopped Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette recipe was going to be saved for a summer cooking class, but it’s too good not to share ASAP.  I’ve already made it a few times in the last couple weeks and it hits all the marks for me!  It is crunchy, juicy, fresh and tangy and infinitely adaptable.  Plus, it can be made ahead which is #1 priority for entertaining at home.

Like I always say, once you have a great dressing, you can take it and run with it and this dressing is everything!  I love using Florida Orange Juice in my salad dressings to add natural sweetness without contributing table sugar or anything with high fructose corn syrup), and also to add a little tang.  I don’t know about you, but I am really ready to cut back on concentrated sweeteners and get back to my pre-quarantine ways (or should I say weight ;).  100% orange juice also packs in some vitamin C, potassium, and folate with that natural sweetness.  I know you will love this dressing, so after you try it once, the next time, double it and freeze some for another time.


I paired cooked farro with some riced vegetables for the ultimate easy chopped salad.  Red cabbage and defrosted frozen riced cauliflower plus diced cucumber were what I had on hand one day, so that’s what I used.  But riced carrot, radish or sugar snap peas would work equally well.  Ricing vegetables is as easy as pulsing pieces in a food processor until it resembles rice.  What I love about tiny pieces of crunchy veggies is that you get a little of everything in one bite. I can already see this salad will be easy to eat at the beach in a cup or jar with a spoon. Plus, the citrus notes from the Florida Orange Juice are perfect for summer!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Farro Chopped Salad with Orange Juice Vinaigrette
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup uncooked farro (or sub rice for a gluten-free option; cook according to package directions)
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 2 cups riced* vegetables (I like cauliflower and red cabbage.)
  • 1 cups diced (like the size of a pea) cucumber (leave peel on for thin-skinned varieties)
  • ¼ fresh chives, finely chopped (mint would be nice, too)
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped hazelnuts or walnuts (toasted and salted sunflower seeds are a good nut-free option)
  • Other delicious additions are: cubed avocado, crumbled feta (can be vegan) or blue cheese, microgreens, cooked beets (I have added all of these things in this salad with success, but not all at the same time.)
  • Orange Juice Vinaigrette:
  • ¼ cup 100% orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon white wine or champagne vinegar
  • 1 small shallot, finely diced
  • 2 teaspoons coarse grain mustard
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. Boil the farro and a pinch of salt in plenty of water. Cook until al dente, about 20-25 minutes. Drain into a colander and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain very well and transfer to a serving bowl.
  2. Prepare the vinaigrette: in a jar with a screw-top lid, combine the 100% orange juice, vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, pepper, and oil. Shake until emulsified (well combined.)
  3. Add the riced vegetables, cucumber, chives, and nuts (if using) to the serving bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss to combine well.
  4. After the salad is tossed, top with avocado and/or cheese. Serve at room temp or chill and serve cold. The salad holds up well after a couple days in the refrigerator, but the farro will turn purple from the red cabbage.
  5. *To rice vegetables, place 2-inch pieces in a food processor fitted with the metal S blade and pulse until the pieces resemble rice. You can use already riced cauliflower, either fresh or frozen. If using fresh, place in the colander and drain the cooked farro on top to give it a quick blanch. If using frozen, defrost and add to the salad.
Notes
You can use rice in place of the farro. Or if you are grain-free, swap all riced vegetables for the farro. 1 cup farro will yield about 2½ cups.

 

 

Related Recipes

Comments

10 Comments

  1. What’s a good swap fro not like any kind of mustard? I usually just omit but would love a suggestion.

    • You can add a smidge of vinegar and an extra pinch of salt.

  2. I’m not sure what you mean by riced cauliflower and red cabbage- Do you use half of each o only one or them? I bought Farro six months ago and I didn’t know what to do with it I am so excited to find this recipe

    • Hi Allison – The idea here is to combine riced vegetables with the farro so it’s not a salad of all farro/starch. You can use 2 cups of any riced vegetables you like. I happened to use 1 cup of frozen/defrosted riced cauliflower and 1 cup of riced red cabbage. See the bottom of the instructions for further details but don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions~

  3. My family loved this! I didn’t have Farro, but I did have wheat berries and it was delicious! Great summer dish

    • Glad you made the swap! I really love wheat berries. They’re so chewy and nutty – perfect for this vinaigrette!

  4. Can I sub something for the coarse grain mustard or is it intrinsic to the salad? (This TJ mustard is pretty strong in flavor ) …. or just decrease??? You are so right….COVID-19 is like the Freshman-15
    Thank you!

    • If you only have smooth Dijon, I would just use half the amount. Taste the dressing before you commit in case it can use a little more.

  5. Thank you-can’t wait to try! Can we use frozen riced veggies? If so do we just defrost & dry or do a quick sauté while still frozen

    • It’s so good! I used frozen cauliflower rice which I merely defrosted and patted dry. I did not cook it. It is the perfect tenderness!


Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

Signup to receive updates about new recipes and more

I come from a large Italian-American family with 28 first cousins (on one side of the family!) where sit-down holiday dinners for 85 people are the norm (how, you might ask – organization! But more on that later …).

Some of my fondest memories are of simple family gatherings, both large and small, with long tables of bowls and platters piled high, the laughter of my cousins echoing and the comfort of tradition warming my soul.

kitchen-matters-buy-book
Buy on Amazon
quicker-than-quick
Buy on Amazon