Tomato Salad with Crisped Farro, Cucumber and Arugula with Italian Vinaigrette

I have a fabulous end-of-summer salad for you to try- a recipe by Chef Hugh Acheson:  Heirloom Tomato Salad with Crisped Farro, Cucumber and Arugula with Italian Vinaigrette

This salad takes advantage of those beautiful heirloom tomatoes you’ve been spying at the Farmer’s Market (most grocery stores carry them too).  The ones I bought were on sale since it’s approaching the end of tomato season.  The tomatoes are drizzled with Newman’s Own® Family Recipe Italian Vinaigrette, and then topped with fresh arugula greens and cucumber.  The salad is garnished with crisped farro.

It’s a good idea to add some whole grains to your salad!  In general, whole grains take longer to digest, so they keep you feeling full longer and provide sustained energy. They’re also thought to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.  Farro is a whole grain with a nutty flavor and delicate chew.  It contains more protein than brown rice.  This recipe calls for frying the farro in hot oil to give it a crispy texture, so it makes a rather unique and interesting garnish for the salad.  I made the crispy farro, and I loved it, but you could certainly garnish the salad with cooked farro too if the thought of frying it is too much for you.

My family dubbed this as one of the best salads I’ve put on the dinner table in a long time.  They loved how it was very simply dressed with the Italian vinaigrette.  The sweet summer tomatoes combined with the peppery arugula and crunchy cucumber made for a good mix of flavors, and the crispy farro on top was a nice touch too.  I was just happy that they were loving their greens!

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Tomato Salad with Crisped Farro, Cucumber and Arugula with Italian Vinaigrette

By RecipeGirl.com (shared with permission from Chef Hugh Acheson)

A simply delicious, fresh summer salad!

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Servings: 4 servings

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Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup farro
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• ▢ 2 cups peanut oil
• ▢ 2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced
• ▢ 2 cups chopped seedless cucumber
• ▢ 2 cups arugula leaves
• ▢ 3 tablespoons Italian Vinaigrette
• ▢ freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions 

• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add ½ teaspoon of salt and the farro. Lower heat to medium high and cook farro until it is tender (usually about 25 to 30 minutes); strain the farro. Set aside on a paper towel to leach as much of the water as you can off of the farro.
• In a small pot, heat the peanut oil to 350 degrees F. Add the farro and fry until crisp, about 1 to 1½ minutes. You want them crisp, but with a bite to them.
• Arrange the sliced tomatoes on a large platter and season them with the remaining salt. Drizzle 1½ tablespoons of the vinaigrette over the tomatoes.
• In a large bowl, combine the cucumber and arugula. Dress with the remaining 1½ tablespoons of vinaigrette and toss well.
• For serving, layer the cucumber and arugula in the center of the tomatoes on the platter. Garnish with the crisp farro. Add fresh ground black pepper, to taste.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 294kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Sodium: 704mg, Potassium: 829mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 2261IU, Vitamin C: 36mg, Calcium: 67mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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