Farro, Green Olive & Feta Salad

I've been thinking of this salad for a long time.

Now that I've finally got around to make it and blog about it, I'm so happy to report it is SO EASY to make!

My sister, Perri, brought this salad to a New Year's Eve party and a bunch of us went wild for the flavors.  She said it was in the new Sunset Magazine (Jan 2012)... 

"oh yeah".... I had it upstairs waiting to devour it.  

She used brown rice instead of farro, and it was really fantastic.  If you don't have farro, go ahead and substitute about 2-2 1/2 cups of cooked brown rice, cracked wheat or quinoa.

A couple of things I might suggest.... don't be too hung up on the measurements here.  I used a bit more farro than the original recipe called for, but I wanted to use up what I had.  Also, I may have used more olives because I like them!!!  I did not use any salt in the finished salad, just salted the farro cooking water was enough for me when you combine the cooked farro with salty green olives and feta.  Lastly, I used more pepper because pepper is my best friend!!!

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 at sides

1 cup farro wheat*

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp Meyer lemon juice

2 Tbsp finely chopped Meyer lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/2 cup feta cheese

2/3 cup mild green olives, sliced

Bring 4 cups salted water to a boil and stir in farro. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook farro until just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet to cool and dry a bit, about 5 minutes. 

(Note- just left mine to drain and cool in my colander for about 15 minutes, but you can dirty another pan if you like.)

Whisk oil, lemon juice and zest, pepper, and parsley together in a medium bowl. Stir in feta, olives, and cooked farro.

(Note- I just dumped all this into a bowl, then added the cool farro.  Stirred it together and adjusted the flavors with more lemon juice, salt and pepper).

Here's some other salads you might like that are vegetarian and have some whole grains too!

Couscous Black Bean Salad
Grilled Vegetable Couscous Salad
Quinoa, Cauliflower and Feta Salad
Quinoa with Roasted Corn and Green Beans
Southwestern Edamame Salad
Tabouleh
Whole Wheat Asian Noodle Salad
Whole Wheat Noodles, Blue Cheese, Walnuts & Kale Salad