Lentil Farro Salad Recipe

This winter I have been obsessed with soup! Thats pretty much all I want to eat, but my family sometimes wants a bit more substance so I decided to embark on this nourishing Lentil and Farro Bowl.

Lentils are such an amazing food — they are high in iron, fiber, and protein. From a Chinese medicine perspective they are considered to be neutral in temperature, help to dry up damp from the body, and tonight Qi! All pretty amazing characteristics.

Farro is a wheat, so if you are sticking to a gluten-free diet, feel free to replace this with something else, such as quinoa. Farro contains less gluten than traditional wheat so it is easier on the digestive tract. It has a nutty profile and is an excellent source of protein, fiber, and nutrients, including iron, zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins.

This is a simple recipe, as the base of it is just cooked lentils and farro. And they toppings are all a bonus! You can use what ever veggies you have laying around to dress this bowl.

I used this brand that I picked up from the Italian market, but I also really love Bobs red Mill organic farro.

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Ingredients

• 1 Cup Farro

• 1 cup French Lentils

• 5 cups broth or water for farro

• 3 cups water from lentils

• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled lightly chopped

• 1 Tbsp. Dried parsley

• 1 Tbsp. Dried basil

• 1 cup, chopped lacinato (dinosaur) kale

• 1 sliced carrot

• 1 cup chopped cauliflower

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Nutritional yeast, green onions, fresh basil and sesame seeds for topping

Procedure

• To prepare the farro, first rinse the grains, then place 1 cup grain into a sauce pot with 5 cups of water or broth.

• Bring this to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes, mixing occasionally. When tender, drain the grains. If you are going to eat them cold, rinse with cold water.

• To prepare the lentils, rinse, then place 1 cup lentil and three cups of water into another pot. Bring to boil and then lower and let simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Throw your garlic, parsley and dried basil, and sun dried tomatoes into this pot to cook together.

• While these are cooking prep your toppings! I decided to use kale, carrots and cauliflower because that’s what I had in the fridge for this dish, but you can choose any veg that you would like. I did a quick saute with olive oil for the kale, and actually just slightly steamed the sliced carrots and chopped cauliflower. I then tossed all the veg together with sesame seeds, salt and pepper.

• When the grains are done, drained and rinsed, you can toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

• When the lentils are finished, there should be little to no water left in the pot. I like to leave just a bit in there as they will soak up any extra fluids when they sit for a few minutes.

I decided to top this dish with a few leaves of fresh basil, chopped green onions and some nutritional yeast. I store the left over lentils, and farrow separately in the fridge so I can use them for a variety of dishes through out the week!

The end result will look something like…

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