One-pot Farro and Tomatoes

I had never cooked farro before this winter and now I've made something with it pretty much every week! I'm finding it very versatile and I like the texture. As one example, I've been putting it in my minestrone soups in place of pasta because I think it holds up better vs. getting mushy. Here's another winner by Smitten Kitchen. I highly recommend following her on Instagram. Some days I'll be wondering "what should I make tonight?" and then inspiration shows up by way of a Smitten Kitchen post. Deb is also good about responding on her website when you have questions. This recipe was meant for summer when fresh tomatoes and basil are plentiful, but I adapted for winter and approached it as more of a pantry items recipe. Instead of using grape tomatoes and fresh basil, I used canned tomatoes and dried basil. I only used 2/3 can of tomatoes to try to get the same amount of tomatoes Deb used, but if you don't mind a more tomatoey version, you could just add the whole can. It's more of a side dish on its own. The next time I make it, I will add a fried egg on top and some roasted green beans on the side.

You will likely be skeptical when you put this all in the pot that it will come together in to something that is fully cooked and tastes good, but it does. You don't need to add cheese, but I think it is an important addition.

One-pot Farro and Tomatoes

2 cups water

1 cup farro

1 small to medium onion, sliced in long thin half moons

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2/3 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon EVOO

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

chili flakes to taste

Grated parmesan, to taste (I added 1/4 cup)

1. Place water and farro in medium saucepan or soup pot to pre-soak for about 10 minutes while you gather and prepare the other ingredients.

2. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt and chili flakes to the farro. Drizzle the oil on top. Bring the mixture to a boil, set your timer for 30 minutes, then reduce to a low simmer. Do not cover. At the end of 30 minutes check consistency. Add a bit more water and cook longer if necessary.

3. Transfer to a serving dish and top with cheese. 

Shiitake Spinach Miso Soup

This winter, one of my cooking goals is to get a couple of Asian inspired noodle or rice dishes into my repertoire. I'm looking for something that will come together fairly quickly for a weeknight meal and with ingredients that I'm likely to have on hand regularly and/or can get easily - sesame oil, chili paste, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, etc. Of course I also want it to be tasty. This one fits the bill. It serves well as a basic noodle soup with a light broth that can be added to. If you want to spice it up with sriracha, you can, but it's also flavorful enough on its own. I was doing a search on line and came across this website that I hadn't seen before, abeautifulplate.com.  The combination of mushrooms and spinach caught my eye. I love shiitake, and will try this with other mushrooms as well. I added edamame and a poached egg to mine to make it a dinner.

Shiitake Spinach Miso Soup
8 oz sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon EVOO
1/3 cup sliced scallions, white and light green parts only (about 3-4)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated ginger
5 cups water
3 tablespoons white miso paste
4 oz soba noodles
2 cups packed baby spinach
1 tablespoon tamarin or soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red hot chili flakes
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 poached egg per person
salt to taste

1. Prepare mushrooms by removing stems, then cleaning with a damp cloth and then slicing.
2. If adding edamame, set them aside to thaw.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan/soup pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms and a few pinches of salt. Let the mushrooms cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the ginger, scallions and garlic. Cook for 1 more minute.
5. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Scoop out a little of the water and add it to the miso paste in a small bowl. Mix together and add back to the pot. Simmer over low heat  for 15 minutes.
6. While the soup is simmering, cook the noodles according to package directions in a separate pan. It's ok to keep them al dente since they'll be cooking a bit more when you add them to the soup. When they are done, drain and set aside.
7. Poach eggs in small saucepan and set aside.
8. After the soup has simmered for 15 minutes, add the noodles, followed by the spinach, edamame, soy sauce/tamari, sesame oil, rice vinegar and chili flakes. Let the spinach wilt and mix together.
9.  Ladel soup into bowls and top with an egg.

Lemon Farro "Risotto"

I've made a few dishes over the last month that will become staples, so want to get them down here. This is the first of three. Recently I wanted to make a lemon risotto as a side dish, to have something simple that didn't require a lot of chopping. I had everything prepped and ready to go in the pot when I realized I was out of arborio rice. Since I am all about farrow this winter, I had been wanting to try making a risotto with it. This wasn't necessarily the best time to experiment since I had a friend on the way over for dinner, but it was the easiest alternative given I already had a risotto in the works. I was using the method I have posted about earlier where you start the risotto on the stove and then bake it in the oven.

I initially thought this would require more liquid than the arborio rice, but it turns out it doesn't. I ended up having to drain it a bit the first time. I made it a second time using the normal amount of stock and it was perfect. If you eat seafood, this goes really well as a side dish for pan seared scallops.

Baked Lemon Farro "Risotto"
1 cup farro
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium shallots, chopped small
2 1/4 cups stock (I use a vegetarian bouillon cube in water)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

1. Put the farro in a bowl, cover it in water and set it aside to soak.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. In a small saucepan, bring the stock to a low simmer.
4. Place a heavy botton 3 qt pot with an oven safe lid on the stovetop and set it on medium low heat.
5. Drain the farro. Raise the heat to medium and add the farro to the shallots. Cook stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
6. Add the wine and stir constantly until it's absorbed, about 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the warmed stock and stir well. Once it comes to a simmer, cover it and immediately transfer it to the oven. Cook for 18 minutes.
8. Remove the risotto, uncover USING AN OVEN MITT and taste. Depending on your preference and how al dente or liquid you like it, you can mess around with it here. If you want to cook it more on the stove top, add more stock (or water if you ran out) over medium heat, stirring constantly until you like the consistency.
9. Stir in cheese and butter.
10. Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.