Fall Farro Salad

Hearty farro, sautéed kale, crisp apple and savoury beet combine to make for one flavourful bite in this clean eating Farro Salad.  It would make for a lovely addition to your holiday table!

Hey everyone! So after I shared a wickedly indulgent ham and brie grilled cheese sandwich on Monday, I thought I’d bring you guys more of a healthier recipe today….cause, you know, balance and all 😉

Farro Salad with Kale

I love a good salad any time of year and I especially love to play with produce of the season. Cold weather veggies like kale grows wonderfully here in Newfoundland. My parents actually grow it in their garden so I had to nab some from them (p.s. I shared some photos on my Instagram just last Friday if you want to check out the goodies).  My parents were happy to share….they were overflowing with the stuff.  Other delicious fall players are beets and apples so I used them here and this farro salad worked beautifully.

How to Roast Beets

There are a few ways that you could prepare beets for roasting –

• If using whole, raw beets – Remove green tops from beets. Wash and scrub clean the beets, wrap in foil and bake on 375 F for about 75 minutes or so until tender (the time may vary slightly depending on the size of your beets.  Then, peel and proceed with whatever recipe you’re using them for. Or
• If using cut up, raw beets – Remove green tops from beets. Wash and scrub clean whole beets, peel, cut into roughly 1-inch slices or chunks, damp excess moisture with paper towel, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and spices (if using).  Bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for about 40-45 minutes (or until tender), turning halfway. OR
• If using pre-cooked beets (as I did in this farro salad) – I used ‘Love Beets’, which are sold in packages whereas the beets are whole, peeled and pre-cooked.  This is not sponsored or anything I just love the convenience and taste of this product.  Even though the beets were pre-cooked, for this farro salad, I did toss with olive oil and some s & p and roasted for a bit just to get a little caramelization.

How to Prepare Kale & Ways to Enjoy Kale

For this farro salad, I also sautéed a little kale.  I washed thoroughly and then cut out the centre rib.  You want to get rid of that rib (see pic below). It’s not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, it’s just tough and takes longer to cook than the leaves themselves.  Just cut it out and thinly slice the leaves into bite-sized pieces or ribbons. For this recipe, I simply cooked the kale in a little olive oil for a few minutes.  Other ways to prepare kale are to –

• Place in a non-stick pan with a splash of water, cover and cook for a few minutes until wilted and water absorbed.  I like a little bite in my kale so I don’t like to overcook.
• You can also add kale to soups, lentil dishes, pastas and smoothies.  It adds a lovely heartiness and tends to have a little more mouthfeel and texture than, say, spinach. Keep in mind that when you are using kale in recipes, you want bite-sized pieces. You don’t want big leaves of kale that will overwhelm your pie hole 😉
• Kale chips? Yep! They’re delish! It’s basically raw kale baked.  Check out Oh She Glows for the recipe and tips.
• Raw kale? Also good.  My friend Traci from The Kitchen Girl  has a wicked salad with an optional kale add-in (which I tried)—>I highly recommend this one.

Ok, so now that we have the minor technicalities out of the way here, time to assemble this fall farro salad (’bout time, right??).  Now, the rest is straight up easy peasy.  Place ingredients in a bowl, toss with vinaigrette and serve.

The vinaigrette for this farro salad is simply made and you basically just throw all the ingredients in a jar, cover, shake and pour.  I used thyme as my primary herb here, but you could totally use your fave.  Tarragon would work lovely too, especially with those beets.

Tips for Making this Fall Farro Salad –

• As mentioned above, I used pre-cooked beets in this recipe.  If you are using raw, they will take longer to prepare.
• As the salad sits, the colour of the beets may bleed into other ingredients, particularly the feta.  Not a big deal, though.
• The longer the salad sits, it will absorb more of the vinaigrette.  I would toss with the vinaigrette prior to serving.
• Also – those apples.  The longer this salad sits, the apple may oxidize. Therefore, if making this farro salad ahead of time and want to do some prep, you can prepare everything aside from the apples and then toss them in (along with the vinaigrette) when serving.
• I didn’t use ‘pre-cooked’ farro here so my cooking time was about 30 minutes or so.  If you use ‘pre-cooked’ farro in this recipe, your cooking time for it will be reduced considerably.
• Though I didn’t use them here, walnuts would make a lovely addition in this farro salad.

Other Fall Side Dishes You May Enjoy –

• Harvest Wild Rice Salad
• Apple & Gouda Mixed Green Salad

Hope you love this fall farro salad as much as I do!

Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂

P.S. If you think this farro salad will make your belly happy too, please be sure to hit that Pin button.  Many thanks, you guys! XO

5 from 15 votes

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Fall Farro Salad

Hearty farro, sautéed kale, crisp apple and savoury beet combine to make for one flavourful bite in this clean eating Farro Salad.  It would make for a lovely addition to your holiday table!

Course Salad

Cuisine Canadian, Italian

Keyword fall salad, farro recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 528 kcal

Author Girl Heart Food

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro
• 1 lb beets -I used pre-cooked beets. See Recipe Notes below.
• 3-4 cups kale -cut into strips
• 1.5 cups apple -about 1-2 apples, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup feta cheese -cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil -divided
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chives -minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme -minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook farro per package instructions and cool (typically for one cup of farro, use 3 cups of water or stock, place in a pot with a pinch of salt, bring to simmer on medium low, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes.  If there is any excess water after cooking simply drain.

2. Meanwhile, roast beets (remove excess moisture by damping with a paper towel).  Toss beets in 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper. On a parchment lined baking sheet, add cubes of beets and roast on 375F for 30 minutes, turning once.  Remove from oven and let cool.  NOTE - see Recipe Notes Below for type of beets being used.

3. In a nonstick pan add remaining olive oil and cook kale 3-5 minutes or until it just starts to wilt. Remove from pan.

4. Place all ingredients in a bowl, along with dressing and stir to combine.  Enjoy!

Dressing

1. Place all ingredients in a small mason jar, shake to combine and pour over salad.

Recipe Notes

• As mentioned above, I used pre-cooked beets in this recipe.  If you are using raw, they will take longer to prepare.
• As the salad sits, the colour of the beets may bleed into other ingredients, particularly the feta.  Not a big deal, though.
• The longer the salad sits, it will absorb more of the vinaigrette.  I would toss with the vinaigrette prior to serving.
• Also - those apples.  The longer this salad sits, the apple may oxidize. Therefore, if making this farro salad ahead of time and want to do some prep, you can prepare everything aside from the apples and then toss them in (along with the vinaigrette) when serving.
• I didn't use 'pre-cooked' farro here so my cooking time was about 30 minutes or so.  If you use 'pre-cooked' farro in this recipe, your cooking time for it will be reduced considerably.
• Though I didn't use them here, walnuts would make a lovely addition in this farro salad.

About those beets - 

There are a few ways that you could prepare beets for roasting -

• If using whole, raw beets - Remove green tops from beets. Wash and scrub clean the beets, wrap in foil and bake on 375 F for about 75 minutes or so until tender (the time may vary slightly depending on the size of your beets.  Then, peel and proceed with whatever recipe you're using them for. Or
• If using cut up, raw beets - Remove green tops from beets. Wash and scrub clean whole beets, peel, cut into roughly 1-inch slices or chunks, damp excess moisture with paper towel, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and spices (if using).  Bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for about 40-45 minutes (or until tender), turning halfway. OR
• If using pre-cooked beets (as I did in this farro salad) - I used 'Love Beets', which are sold in packages whereas the beets are whole, peeled and pre-cooked.  This is not sponsored or anything I just love the convenience and taste of this product.  Even though the beets were pre-cooked, for this farro salad, I did toss with olive oil and some s & p and roasted for a bit just to get a little caramelization.

Nutrition Facts

Fall Farro Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 528 Calories from Fat 216

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 24g 37%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 25mg 8%

Sodium 863mg 36%

Potassium 845mg 24%

Total Carbohydrates 69g 23%

Dietary Fiber 12g 48%

Sugars 20g

Protein 13g 26%

Vitamin A 105.3%

Vitamin C 87.4%

Calcium 26%

Iron 17.8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.