Cozy up to this warm farro bowl stuffed with roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and a kale pesto vinaigrette that will get you excited to eat your greens.
The thing about winter and salads is that they are both COLD.
And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s shivering outside and shivering inside at the same time.
My bones just can’t take it.
Hence why I’ve been avoiding my favorite salad take-out joint for the past few months
and hence why it took me so long to try their new warm and cozy grain bowls
and hence why it is now the end of January and I am just now realizing the beauty of the warm grain salad bowl.
You guys. We have so much lost time to make up for.
Long-standing readers of my blog will know that I have long been a fan of the lettuce-free salad. Instead of lots of bland and flavorless leaves, I like to bulk up my salads and salad bowls with alternative greens, lots of roasted veggies, and grains grains grains! Lately, farro has been high on my salad bowl obsession list and for good reason.
First of all, at 7 grams of protein per serving, it has more than twice the protein and fiber as modern wheat! <– Talk about staying power.
Second of all, it cooks up with just the kind of chewy bite and nutty flavor that my grain salad dreams are made of.
In these farro salad bowls I’ve paired this new favorite grain of mine with roasted cauliflower, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet tart dried cranberry bites, bitter arugula, and a totally addictive kale pesto vinaigrette. Each bite is a great mix of sweet and savory with a whole lot of vitamin A mixed in for good measure.
Plus, the fact that it’s served warm will let you get excited about coming home to it after a long windy walk from work in the cold.
I speak from many many shivery days of experience.
The farro that I used is the Village Harvest brand, which I’m totally digging because all of their rice and grains are natural and unprocessed, which makes me feel good about eating them! What also makes me feel good is knowing that Village Harvest makes a real effort to support communities through social development and sustainability projects – they send funds that help build schools and education programs, provide clothing and food for children and pledge to donate 1% of profits to support these global programs.
Feel good and taste good on so many levels.
I love it.
- 5 oz baby kale
- ¾ cup pecans
- ¼ cup champagne vinegar
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 cups Village Harvest Farro Perlato, cooked according to package directions
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 5 oz arugula
- To make the pesto, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the kale, pecans, champagne vinegar, and olive oil. Pulse until pureed and well combined. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- For the salad, heat oven to 400F. Toss the cauliflower florets and sweet potato cubes with the olive oil. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, or until tender and starting to brown.
- Toss the cooked farro with the roasted veggies, dried cranberries, arugula, and kale pesto vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve warm.
To find Village Harvest products near you, check out their store locator!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Yum! This salad looks super filling and delicious! I especially love the Pesto idea here. Killin’ it girl.
This is pure comfort in a bowl, I love it. Thanks for the recipe Joanne! 🙂
Warm salads = totally the solution. I feel the same way about winter and salads so thanks for the great recipe! I hope this year has been treating you well 🙂
Gorgeous! We made farro bowls last night, but I felt there was some zing missing: now I see that pesto vinaigrette was the missing piece of the puzzle!
i love farro! what a great meal option… sounds like a fun dressing too 🙂
I feel the same way… cannot stomach cold salads when it’s freezing outside, it simply doesn’t work for me
now your concoction, yeah… that works!
(hope you are feeling great these days!)
Can I sub the champagne vinegar for white wine vinegar? Can’t wait to try this. I had never heard of farro.
Absolutely!!
I think so many people hear the word salad and immediately think of the limp iceberg lettuce. An unsatisfying experience and one that is definitely not filling! Loving your hearty salads with great veggies and hearty bases such as farro or quinoa.
Maybe i need to pitch this salad by another name so my husband won’t get the “iceberg lettuce image” in his head. Can’t say the word salad……hmmmm…thinking on a new name.
Hi Joanne, faro is one of my favorite grains, love that you roasted veggies and made a pesto to go with.
I simply adore warm salads and this one sounds totally delish with that kale pesto!
So delicious and nutritious too. I love that kale pesto dressing!
I never really think of myself as a “California girl” but maybe my desire to eat salads year round is indicative of the fact I am?
I love farro. That’s a terrific salad and it must be very filling. Love all the roasted vegetables and the splash of champagne vinegar xx
I have been meaning to try farro as well. I have just as much if not more lost time to make up for! This looks delicious!
Thanks to Blue Apron, I made a warm farro salad with spinach– and loved it! I immediately added this grain to my pantry. Your version looks absolutely scrumptious.
Ooooh this salad looks right up my street. I’ll try this laterales this week.
We have been trying to use more farro in our diet so this is prefect! It sounds so good 🙂
Wish I had a bowl of that deliciousness right now!
I’m with you when it comes to cold salads in the winter. This however would warm my insides any time of year!
We love a great farro salad, and this ones sounds delish! This is a lovely meal Joanne.
Warm salads are SO much better in the winter. I’ve been loving farro lately so this would work perfectly for us!
I like warm salads in the winter too. This farrow bowl with roasted veggies looks flavorful, comforting, and delicious.
I love farro with a deep and abiding love, and am always looking for new ways to make it – and of course you have created one for me! Thanks chica! xx
I’ve definitely been struggling to eat salads as well. Of course now that the temps are not so awful I finally have a bag of lettuce in my fridge. And now instead I want to make this. Love a good warm grain salad!
me too on the lettuce free salad – love the sound of this (and E loves warm salads) – btw there are lots of recalls of lettuce in Melbourne right now because of food poisoning in packages – yet again another reason for lettuce free salads
I made this for dinner tonight and it was wonderful. I’m not going to lie though, I started making the pesto and thought…the whole container of kale?!? 🙂 But wow, can’t believe how good the pesto is! Great recipe, will add to my rotation.