Farro with Caramelized Carrot and Feta

The husband cooked this one up in Kansas, loosely adapting a recipe from his produce box. I have now had it twice for dinner, and once as leftovers on the plane back to Sacramento after shamelessly employing my best mournful puppy dog eye routine to steal enough from (his) dinner for lunch the next day. (I couldn't help myself. It's addictive.)

It should be patently obvious that I deserve zero credit for this one, other than in my role as Selfless Taster of New Recipes.

It's a job I could get used to.

Ingredients
1 cup farro, cooked (follow package directions, but use chicken or veggie broth instead of water)*
Olive oil
2 medium shallots, diced
1 bunch carrots, peeled chopped into ¼ inch cubes (rainbow carrots are perfect for this dish, if you find them)
1-2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
5 oz feta cheese, cut into small cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

While the farro is cooking, prepare the other ingredients.

Sauté the shallot with a glug of olive oil in a wide, nonstick pan for about 2 minutes, until they soften slightly. Add the carrots and saute in the pan with the shallot, stirring only occasionally, until they brown. When the carrots are golden in places, sprinkle in the Aleppo pepper, and cook for a minute or two more.

When the carrots are browned, add the cooked farro to the pan and fold together. When the farro is warmed through, add the parsley, feta, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Serves 2.

 *Look for whole grain rather than semi-pearled or pearled—often, the only way to tell is that the whole grains have a longer cooking time (30-40 minutes instead of 15-20). The whole grains have more texture and more nutrition. The semi-pearled variety does cook more quickly, if you're in a rush. Our co-op only has semi-pearled, whereas Whole Foods carries the whole grain version (from Bob's Red Mill).