Broccoli Farro Salad

 Continuing on my farro theme for this past year, here's a great summer take on farro. This is yet another Smitten Kitchen regular for me now. I prefer it loaded up with broccoli. I'm often aiming to get the veggie to starch ratio much higher on the veggies, so it's vegetable forward with a noticeable accent of grain or pasta, but I somehow don't seem to execute very well on this. Tonight I sauteed what I thought were quite a lot of summer vegetables with a bit of goat cheese and I only put 2 handfuls of pasta in the water to cook. I had this very colorful pan full of zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, chickpeas, parsley, etc, tossed in my "small" amount of pasta and it suddenly seemed like a bland pasta dish. So for the farro salad, the next time I make it, if I feel like there's too much broccoli, I'm going to just go for it and add more. If you eat fish this works well as a side dish. You could top the salad with a fried egg to have a complete meal with maybe some tomatoes on the side for color. 

When I was looking for my pictures of this dish, I came across this picture of Luna munching on some oak leaves and it made me wonder if she would like broccoli.

What I most enjoy about this dish is the texture of it. I also like that it's not many ingredients, yet packs a punch in flavor. Here is the link to the recipe on Smitten Kitchen:

Broccoli Rubble

BROCCOLI farro Salad

1 cup semi-pearled farro

1 pound broccoli, cut into "branches" to start

2 cloves garlic, minced 

4 tablespoons olive oil

red pepper flakes

finely grated zest of one lemon, then juice from the same lemon

1/4 cup grated percorino ramano or parmesan

salt 

black pepper, fresh ground

1. Put the farro on to cook according to package directions. 

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli and cook for about 2 minutes. You want it to soften slightly but still retain a crunch. Remove with thongs and set aside to dry on paper towels and pat dry. When it has cooled enough to handle, chop it into small bite-sized pieces.

3. Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add several shakes of chili flake and garlic. Cook for about a minute, stirring. Add broccoli, lemon zest and a teaspoon of salt. Cook, tossing, for about 4 minutes. 

4. Put your cooked farro in a bowl, scrape all contents of sautee pan into it. Stir Add lemon juice, cheese, black pepper to taste and more salt if you need it. Stir again.