Our dear friends Matt and Tiffany had us over for dinner Friday night (picture above from Matt’s iPhone – not bad!). Tiffany is a wonderful cook and I’m always anxious to see what she prepares! Friday she made lamb on the grill (so lean!) and a dish with a new grain (to all of us!): farro.
I’ve somewhat shamefully admitted my distaste for quinoa, but with that one exception, I love all grains. And farro just may be my favorite. Yum! For directions on how to cook farro, go here.
Farro
Farro is native to the Middle East but is primarily grown in northern Italy. It is most similar to barley and wheat berries and has a firmer texture and a nutty flavor. Farro is also nutritional superior to many other whole grains as it contains less calories and lots of fiber.
Per 1/2 cup (cooked):
- Farro = 100 calories; 3.5 g. fiber
- Quinoa = 127 calories; 2 g. fiber
- Millet = 104 calories; 1.15 g. fiber
- Bulgar = 125 calories; 4 g. fiber
- Buckwheat = 129 calories; 4 g. fiber
Greek Farro Salad adapted from The Food Network (and Tiffany 🙂 )
1 1/2 cups farro (dry), cooked
1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and diced
1 red bell pepper, large-diced
1 yellow bell pepper, large-diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half-rounds
1/2 pound 6 ounces feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled)
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
For the vinaigrette:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup 1/3 cup olive oil
Directions:
Place the cooked farro, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature. Serves 12 (3/4 cup per serving)
Nutrition Information (per serving): 243 calories; 15.4 g. fat; 505 mg. sodium; 20.9 g. carbohydrate; 2.4 g. fiber; 6.5 g. protein
Result: DEE-LISH-US! This is such a wonderful dish! I plan to serve it tonight with chicken and have leftovers all week for lunch! Mmm mmm!
And breakfast for the week…
Vegan Banana Nut Muffins slightly adapted from The Clean Eating Mama
3 large ripe bananas
1/4 cup vegetable canola oil OR 1/4 vegan butter like Earth Balance
1/2 cup (organic) raw sugar – I used turbinado
1/2 cup (organic) brown sugar
1 cup (organic) all-purpose flour
1 cup (organic) whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup walnuts
Preheat oven to 360º F.
Cream sugar/oil with sugar. In a separate bowl mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas to butter and sugar and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, making sure to scrape the sides and mix well. Stir in nuts at the end. Spray cooking spray in a muffin tin or add muffin cups and add batter into each slot – 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 25 minutes. Yield: 12 muffins
Nutrition Information (per muffin): 233 calories; 8.1 g. fat; 190 mg. sodium; 39 g. carbohydrate; 2.4 g. fiber; 2.2 g. protein
Result: So flavorful! I love, love, love vegan baked goods — the higher calories for the oil is always worth it! 😀
I loved reading about your spouses/significant others and what they “appreciate” most. I feel in good company with Mr. Prevention, after all. Maybe we should start a support group? 😉
Let’s do a THIS or THAT today…(leave your selections as a comment)
iced tea or iced coffee
lemonade or limeade
cookie or brownie
run or bike
red grapes or green grapes
spinach or lettuce
dog or cat
red sauce or cream sauce
red wine or white wine
cauliflower or broccoli
For me: iced tea, limeade, cookie, run, red grapes, spinach , dog, red sauce, red wine, broccoli
Excited for my hockey game today! I haven’t played all week! 😀
Have a great day-before-Monday!
iced coffee
lemonade
cookie
run or bike I have to choose?
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
Also thank you for the farro info. I had a great bowl while out to brunch a few weeks ago and had no idea what it was.
The farro looks really good! We eat a lot of couscouse and quinoa, so I’m sure my mom will be trying that 🙂
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
Delicious farro and muffins! My list:
iced coffee, lemonade, brownie, run, green grapes, spinach, dog, red sauce, red wine, and broccoli!
Well, here are my choices!
iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
run
green grapes
lettuce
cat
red sauce
red wine
cauliflower
And thanks for the farro intro! I’ve never had it and am looking forward to trying it! I love wheat berries & barley, so seems like I’d be in grain love! Hope you’re having a good weekend!
all of your food looks so good!!!
iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
run
red grapes
lettuce
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
I have some farro but I haven’t made it yet, I have to give it a try!
This will be fun, here goes:
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run
green grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
Wow, I’d never even heard of farro! You learn something new every day, huh? I’ve never even seen it in the grocery store, but now I’ll be looking.
iced coffee
limeade
cookie or brownie–neither…muffins!
run
red grapes
spinach
cat
red sauce
red wine or white wine- neither…pink wine!
broccoli
tea
lemonade
cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
That farro recipe looks delicious – I have never tried farro!
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
I’m wondering where you can find farro… I’ll have to keep an eye out for it 🙂
Okay, most of these not a problem: iced tea (mint, not the regular stuff), lemonade, brownie (especially if it’s still warm), bike, green grapes, spinach, red sauce, white wine, and broccoli. But dog vs cat? Such a hard one for me, I know I’m a dog person at heart but since I have two of each and love them all dearly, I remain split and say they are both fantastic. I wouldn’t have said that before owning cats, but now that I have them and see what awesome personalioes they have… Dogs and cats!
I love farro and kamut, nutty and tasty and oh so awesome. Great cookbook called “Whole Grains, Everyday, Every Way” by Lorna Sass has some awesome recipes in it and she goes into the best way to cook absolutely every grain. She has 3-10 pages for each grain and then a bunch of recipes as well, I highly recommend it.
For the comment above you can often find farro in bulk grocery bins, and I know whole foods carries it in bulk and normal sizes, you can also mail order it…
iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
I’ve never had farro but you sure made me want to try it!!
Iced coffee
Lemonade
Cookie
Run
Red grapes
Spinach
Dog
White sauce
White wine
Cauliflower
Ooh Farro sounds interesting! I’ve never had it!
iced tea
limeade
brownie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
I’ll play!
iced tea
lemonade
(gluten free) brownie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
non-alcoholic water 🙂
broccoli
I love stuff like this!
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run (umm….if I’m not injured!) 😉
red grapes
spinach
cat (only because I’ve never had a dog!)
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
Both your salad and muffin look incredible….
For me:
iced coffee
lemonade
cookie
bike
green grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
Never had farro…looks excellent. Maybe I should make it as one of my new foods to try!
Iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
bike
red grapes
spinach
cat
cream sauce
red wine
broccoli
Farro is new to me, but with that nutty flavor it sounds delicious!
Here are my choices:
iced coffee
limenade
cookie
bike
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
Haha, love how you posed the cupcake on the windowsill! 🙂 I’ve truthfully never heard of farro, but I love trying new foods so I MUST check that out!
My picks:
iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
RUN!
green grapes
spinach
DOG
red sauce
white wine
brocolli
That was fun! 🙂
iced coffee
limeade
cookie
run
red grapes
lettuce
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
That was fun!
I’ve had farro once before and loved the taste, haven’t had it since that one time though… I think around thanksgiving. Lucky you to get treated to lamb!
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
I’ll have to try out farro! I bet I’d love it!!
I am too tired to leave all my answers but I can say love the farro:)
Iced coffee
limeade
Brownie
bike
green grapes
Lettuce
dog (but I love MY cat)
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
Thanks for the info on farro, I do not think I have ever had this before.
Thank you for the great farro recipe! I so need to try farro – it sounds incredible!!
Such a fun game! 🙂 Here come my choices… 🙂
Iced tea
Lemonade
Brownie
Bike
Green Grapes
Spinach
Dog and cat 🙂
Red sauce
Red Wine
Broccoli and cauliflower 🙂
Oh farro sounds pretty good and packs a nice fiber punch! I have never heard of it!
iced tea
limeade if i had to choose one if not neither!
brownie
run
green grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
white wine
broccoli
iced tea
lemonade
brownie
run
green grapes
spinach
dog
cream sauce
sorry i dont have wine
cauliflower
IT was fun to do this nicole and salad and cookies looks delicious
I’ve never tried farro, but I do know that I hate quina…Does farro taste like bird seed too?
Author
I hate quinoa, too…love farro!
iced tea
lemonade
cookie
bike
red grapes
spinach
dog
cream sauce
red wine
broccoli
Boy did that lamb look amazing!! You really need to feature more red meat ;). Not that I’ll make any, but it would sound sooo wonderful :D.
ice water
lemonade
cookie
run
green grapes
lettuce
dog
cream sauce
white wine
broccoli
iced tea (unsweetened)
limeade
cookie
run
black grapes
spinach
dog
red sauce
red wine
broccoli
niether
lemonade
brownie since you didn’t specify the cookie
run
red grapes
spinach
either
cream sauce
niether
either
I recently read an article of farro–I’ve been meaning to get some. I am going to WF in a few weeks, so maybe I will pick some up there! Can you believe I’ve never had lamb? It’s definitely on my list!
iced coffee
lemonade
brownie
run
green grapes
spinach
cat
red sauce
red wine
broccoli 🙂