Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

Quick. Before the last of the summertime sunshine and summertime tomatoes fade into foggy memory under the cool crisp footsteps of fall. Get thee to a picnic.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups semi-pearled farro

2 cups chicken broth + 1 cup water

2 medium shallots, diced

1 large clove garlic, pressed

1 medium to large zucchini or other summer squash, diced

3/4 can chickpeas, rinsed

1 heaping basket fragrant cherry tomatoes, halved and sprinkled lightly with salt

Olive oil

1 lemon, zested and then juiced

6-8 oz feta, cubed

2-3 tbsp chopped fresh oregano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring the broth and water to a boil in a covered pot. Stir in the farro, replace the cover, and return to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer according to package directions (probably about 20 minutes, or longer if unpearled) until tender. Drain well, toss with a drizzle of olive oil, and set aside.

While the farro is cooking, heat a wide nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Add a generous glug of olive oil and the shallot and sauté for a minute, then add the garlic and sauté a minute more. Add the zucchini and a sprinkling of salt and toss to coat evenly. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. When the zucchini is cooked through, stir in the chickpeas, cover the pan again, and turn off the heat.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients. When everything is ready to go, drizzle the farro with a little more olive oil and toss with the arugula so that it wilts a little. Add half the oregano, half the lemon juice, and all of the lemon zest, then stir in the zucchini mixture, tomatoes, and feta. Adjust oregano, lemon juice, and salt to taste (you’ll probably want half the remaining oregano and half the remaining lemon juice, but play with the amount until the zip of each one adds a clear bright note to the taste without being overpowering). Sprinkle with black pepper and chill until you’re ready to eat.

Serves 4-8 as a main course or side salad. Works well for potlucks, picnics, road trips, or just a stash of something delicious and ready to eat for a busy work week.

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).

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes with Goat Cheese and Sage

Autumn has arrived, with crisp mornings and reddening leaves. Let the roasting begin.

Ingredients

Purple or yellow potatoes, cut in half (if small, you can leave them whole; if large, you can cut into thirds or fourths if you want to reduce cooking time)

Olive oil

Fresh rosemary and/or sage

A little goat cheese or feta, for crumbling over the top

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Toss the potatoes with a generous glug of olive oil and stir to coat evenly. Set a piece of tinfoil, shiny side up, on a baking sheet and brush the foil lightly with olive oil. Pour the potatoes onto the foil, scatter liberally with rosemary and sage leaves, and then pull the edges of the foil inward to form a partially-closed container. (You can adjust the openness of the foil as you roast them—if they start to dry out, close the foil more to retain more moisture. If liquid starts to collect at the bottom, pull the edges outward to let it evaporate.)

Roast the potatoes until browned on the outside and soft on the inside, stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent them from sticking (as a point of reference, purple potatoes cut into approximately 1" chunks take around 45-60 minutes). You want these a little softer than you'd want a baking potato to bring out the creaminess—the potato should smoosh a bit when you pinch it gently.

Serve hot, topped with crumbled feta or goat cheese. Pairs well with braised broccolini and roasted carrots.

Wild Rice and Tomato Salad

We made homegrown chickpeas the other night to revisit this recipe (which was fortunately just as delicious the second time, or I would have had to sorrowfully revoke its title), and had a few left over in the fridge, along with some wild rice and the lemon basil from our CSA box last week. And a basket of grape tomatoes. Clearly, the thing to do was to throw them all in a bowl and eat them. We didn't particularly expect it to be good enough to make again, but we would...if you have leftover chickpeas and wild rice (or probably even brown rice) on hand, this is very fast to make, and was surprisingly addictive. You could also add a little cucumber for crunch.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1/2 onion, cut into wedges and sliced into thin, 1-inch strips
1 clove garlic, pressed
A basket of ripe grape tomatoes, cut lengthwise into quarters
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
About 10 lemon basil leaves, chiffonade
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little goat cheese or feta

Saute the onion in a little olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to turn golden. Add the garlic and a little more olive oil if necessary, turn the heat down to medium-low, and saute for another minute or so. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Combine the chickpeas and tomatoes in a salad bowl. In a separate, small bowl, whisk together a few glugs of olive oil and about a third as much balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper, then pour about two-thirds of the dressing over the chickpeas and tomatoes, and stir to coat evenly. Add the wild rice, pour in the rest of the dressing, and stir again. Add about half of the basil chiffonade and the onion-garlic mixture, stir, and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Crumble a little cheese over the top and sprinkle with the remaining basil before serving.

Serves 2 (it's lighter than it looks, so you'll want something else with it).