I made this salad recently when I had a craving for something healthy, but also for something with a little more substance. While my husband is not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes, they have become my personal go to ingredient when I’m in the need of something hearty with a little less guilt attached.
For this recipe, I cooked the farro on the stove with chicken broth. Alternatively, the farro can be made in the Instant Pot, which is personally my favorite way to cook it, considering you can “set it and forget it.” Simply add the farro and broth to the instant pot, set to rice cooker mode, after 12 minutes, do a quick release, and boom, it’s done!
This salad is great for lunch on the go, just pack your greens separate from your veggies so they retain their crunch and don’t get wilty.
The recipe also contains a quick explanation of how to do a quick pickle. Quick pickling red onions is one of my favorite ways to add a nice vinegary crunch to any recipe. Once you try these onions, you will find yourself coming back to this technique very often.
And like most of my recipes, many of the ingredients can be substituted for others. Quinoa makes an excellent substitute if you don’t happen to have farro on hand. Goat cheese is just as tasty as feta, and your dressing options are endless. I opted for a honey balsamic dressing. Check out how I made it below.
Roasted Sweet Potato and Farro Salad
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 small red onion
- 2 oz arugula
- 1 cup farro
- 1.5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 oz crumbled feta
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425.
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Start by cooking your farro. Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot, then add farro and reduce heat to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes or until farro is tender but slightly chewy. Drain and set aside.
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Do a quick pickle on the red onion. Halve, peel, and thinly slice the onion. In a small bowl, combine onion, vinegar, a large drizzle of olive oil, and sugar. Let sit for 20 minutes while farro cooks.
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Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until fork tender.
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For the honey balsamic dressing: in a large bowl, add 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Whisk to combine. Add arugula and toss until thoroughly coated. Add a large drizzle of olive oil and season the arugula generously with salt and pepper.
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Drain the red onion and pat dry with a paper towel. Top the arugula with the cooked farro, sweet potato, pickled red onion, and a sprinkling of feta. I added some more balsamic drizzle on top, which you can find here.
Find the balsamic drizzle I used here.
