Have you ever met Farro? I think you'll like him with that cool name and all. Okay I'll level with you and tell you "he" is actually a grain, but you probably knew that.
On its own itcan be a little shy but when you combine farro and roasted eggplant, it's true food love.
Whenever I make a salad I follow a couple of basic rules. These are only rules for me, you can do it any way you like, I wont even get mad at you.
The foundation of a salad for me is usually either green leaves or a grain. If it's leaves, then the add-in's will be on the lighter side because who likes a flat salad?
By using a grain you can mix in some heavier ingredients like these guys and you'll still have a salad that's just dying to be crammed into your pie hole.
I admit, my relationship with eggplant got off to a rocky start. I really wanted to like it but it wasn't until I had baba ghanoush that I realized it had to be roasted for me to give it another chance.
For this salad I threw the eggplant over the burner on my stove, you don't need to be digging your grill out from underneath 10 feet of snow for this task. Just keep moving it around the flame until it turns black.
The eggplant will break down and start to turn soft so be careful you don't squeeze too hard or you'll have eggplant pulp all over your stove, not cool.So what to do with all of that smoky roasty pulp?
Mix it into the farro along with some grilled asparagus. Grilling or roasting veggies takes the flavor to a whole new mind-blowing level.
Add some roasted red peppers, kidney beans and toasted pine nuts. Toss with some of the za'atar spiced dressing and boom, your job is done. Except for some crumbled feta on top, every salad needs cheese.
A healthy farro grain salad packed with nutrition and grilled vegetables. Roasted eggplant provides a Mediterranean flavor as well as the za'atar, lemon juice and olive oil dressing.
.png)
