Harvest farro salad

A serving bowl with a mixed farro salad with sweet potatoes and spinach

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Harvest farro salad is full of roasted sweet potatoes, diced apple, pecans and dried cranberries and finished off with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for a delicious fall side salad!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
½ teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 (8.8 oz.) package quick-cooking farro (or the equivalent to make 3-4 cups cooked)
1 cup baby spinach (or sub arugula)
⅔ cup small diced apple (such as Fuji or Gala)
½ cup chopped pecans (or sub walnuts)
⅓ cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Optional extras:

Chopped fresh parsley or thyme, crumbled feta or goat cheese, grated or shaved Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Peel and chop sweet potatoes into ½-inch cubes. Place on a large baking sheet in an even layer. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss to mix. Roast at 400 for 35 minutes, stirring after about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the farro according to package directions. Drain and add to a large bowl. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
While the farro is cooking, prep the remaining ingredients.
Add the roasted sweet potatoes and remaining ingredients to the bowl with the farro. Toss to combine.
Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over the farro mix and toss to mix everything together well. Season to taste with extra salt and ball pepper.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

I use a quick-cook farro that I buy at Trader Joe’s. You could use regular farro too. You’ll want about 3-4 cups once it’s cooked.

Or you could substitute another grain if you’d like. Brown rice or quinoa would be great here, too.

I use baby spinach but baby arugula or even baby kale would be good here.

I recommend a sweet, crisp apple for this. I usually go for Fuji or Gala, but Honey Crisp or Cripps Pink would be great too.

I like chopped pecans but walnuts are fine too. (Tip: buy the chopped kind at the grocery store. They are much cheaper than the whole, intact nuts.)

Also, I roast the sweet potatoes with just olive oil, salt and pepper. However, you could add some cinnamon to give the salad a bit more warmth if you’d like.

Nutrition

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