This warm farro salad is a delicious, hearty lunch, dinner, or side dish. Cooked farro is first tossed with Boursin soft cheese until the cheese melts and then mixed with asparagus and fava beans (or peas if you can't find fava beans). The salad is finished with thinly sliced radishes, scallions, fresh herbs, and a vinaigrette.
The post includes suggestions for other seasonal vegetable substitutions for asparagus and fava beans.
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🏃♀️ Post Summary
In a hurry? This summary covers the essential points.
- Meal Prep: 40 minutes, mostly for the fava beans. Cook Time: 30 minutes.
- This is a hearty salad that's a great source of fiber and protein.
- Use peas in place of the fava beans if you want to make this dish in less time.
- Ideas of other seasonal vegetable combos with the farro grain are also provided.
Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
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Eating salads as a main dish is a great way to get a lot of fresh vegetables into your diet. Great examples include this Potato and Lentil Salad, a Crunchy Chickpea Greek Salad, and this Warm Chickpea Salad with Feta and Fire-Roasted Tomatoes.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
This list only covers ingredients that require some notes. For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions to make this farro salad recipe, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Farro - Pearled barley also works great in this salad. They both have a nutty flavor and chewy texture that works great in this salad.
- Fava beans - These beans are available fresh in long pods through the late spring and early summer. If you can't find them, substitute fresh or frozen peas.
- Asparagus - Both skinny and fat asparagus work fine.
- Spring onions - if these aren't available, substitute scallions or diced red onion.
- Boursin - Boursin is a soft cheese found in the specialty cheese section of most grocery stores. I use Garlic and Herb Boursin, but feel free to use your own favorite. Feta cheese and goat cheese are good substitutes.
🧐 What is Farro Grain?
Farro is a nutritious, nutty-flavored ancient whole grain often used in Mediterranean dishes. It has a chewy texture similar to barley and is similarly cooked. It is in the wheat family and not suitable for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities.
A little know fact is that Einkorn and spelt are two types of farro grain.
Farro is generally sold in three forms:
- Whole farro - This is the most nutritious form and takes the longest to cook. This grain retains all of the bran and germ and needs an overnight soaking before cooking. It takes about 1 hour to cook even after soaking.
- Semi-pearled - Some of the bran is removed, which reduces the nutrition and fiber content. It does not need to be pre-soaked, and cooks in 25-30 minutes.
- Pearled - Most of the bran is completely removed. It cooks the fastest - in 15-20 minutes - and is the most tender. Although it has a lower amount of fiber than whole or semi-pearled farro, it still has twice the fiber of brown rice and a lower glycemic index.
Farro by the numbers
A ½ cup serving of cooked farro has the following nutrition profile:
- 170 calories
- 7 grams protein
- 7 grams fiber
- 37 grams carbohydrates (30 grams net carbohydrates)
- 1 gram fat
The fiber, protein and additional vitamins in farro benefit your digestion, heart health and metabolic health.
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- Chewy farro makes this a filling salad and adds some great texture..
- The combination of herbs adds a lot of fresh flavor to the salad.
- Radishes add crunch and a peppery flavor.
- A sherry vinaigrette adds a bright flavor to balance the grain's earthiness and complements the asparagus.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Make the farro ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to make a big batch so I have left over farro for other uses. Rewarm the grain on the stove top with a little water, drain, and stir in the Boursin cheese.
- Shell, blanch, and peel the fava beans up to 3 - 4 days ahead, and store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
I like to use what's in season when making this grain salad. Here are some combinations that work well:
- Fire-roasted tomatoes or balsamic roasted tomatoes made with either plum or cherry tomatoes, green beans, and fresh basil.
- Roasted red bell peppers with shallots and kalamata olives.
- Lightly sautéed zucchini, corn, and shallots.
- Air fryer mushrooms in the winter.
- I prefer a sherry vinaigrette with farro, but a simple lemon vinaigrette is fine if you're making the recipe with asparagus and fava beans or peas.
❤️ More Farro Recipes
❤️ More Grains Salads
Warm Farro Salad with Asparagus and Fava Beans
Equipment
- medium pot to cook the farro
- Large pot to blanch the fava beans
- Air Fryer (or use a conventional oven) for the asparagus
- Chef's knife
- small bowl
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup uncooked farro, rinsed or pearl barley
- 3 tablespoons Herb and Garlic Boursin Soft Cheese or more to taste
- 30 pods fava beans
- 1 bunch asparagus ends trimmed
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 3 small spring onions or 4 scallions
- 3 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Sherry Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the farro. Using a 3:1 ratio of water to dry farro grain, bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the rinsed farro to the water and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it's tender and chewy. When done, drain and return it to the pot. Stir in the Boursin cheese until melted. Put a lid over the pot (off the heat) to keep it warm.Pro tip: Rinsing farro before cooking removes some of the starch.
- Cook the fava beans. While the farro cooks, shell the fava beans. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the fava beans for a quick 3-minute blanch over medium heat. After 3 minutes, strain the beans and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water. Once the beans are cooled enough to handle, pinch off the swollen tip of each bean and gently squeeze the bean to pop out an inner tender, bright green fava bean. This inner bean is the bean you'll use in this salad. Transfer them to a large bowl.Note: If using fresh green peas in place of the fava beans, boil or steam for 2–5 minutes until tender and vibrant green. Frozen peas can go directly into a pot of boiling water without thawing, and need only 3–5 minutes to heat through. Do not overcook, or they will become mushy.
- Roast the asparagus. Roast the asparagus in a 400˚F air fryer or oven. Toss the spears first in avocado oil or olive oil and lightly season with salt the pepper. Air fry for 5 minutes or roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes.Slice into 1-inch pieces and add to the fava beans.
- Finish the salad. Add the warm farro to the large bowl containing the fava beans and asparagus, and add the onions, radishes, salt, and half of the chopped herbs. Lightly toss and correct for seasoning.Transfer to a serving bowl.
- Make the dressing. Whisk together the ingredients for the sherry vinaigrette in a small bowl. Drizzle over the farro salad and top with the remaining herbs.
- Serve. Serve warm or at room temperature.
gluttonforlife
Sounds delicious! Makes me homesick for the early springs of my childhood in Santa Cruz. My husband can't eat gluten, so I guess a version of this with quinoa or brown rice would work, right?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Laura. Quinoa would work wonderfully with this - I would just add a little more lemon and eliminate the balsamic vinegar and sherry. Brown rice would just be a clean substitution. Hope you like it!
Renee
Love farro and everything in this salad. Definitely a recipe keeper!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Renee! This salad makes me feel so good afterwards. Hope you have a chance to try it:-)
Suzi
This looks fantastic, I love those fresh veggies. I miss the Bay area, I used to live in San Francisco, went back for a visit a couple of years ago and still love it there.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Suzi!! I love it here, especially this time of year 🙂
Rosemary
Very clever how you've straddled the climates. And roasted cherry tomatoes are perfect in any recipe!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Rosemary. I agree - I add roasted cherry tomatoes to so many things. It adds such a nice umami flavor to vegetarian dishes.
lapadia
"Climate whiplash", ha, love that. I haven't been traveling but the weather has been switching up throughout the week. Spring is trying its best to dominate, we are starting to get fresh asparagus and I am always looking for new ideas to use it! Thanks for the idea 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I've tried to grow asparagus a couple times now without success. I love it so much, I thought this would be a great way to have it available all spring at my fingertips -- literally. But no go. But I'm always looking for ways to use it too:-)
L.Michelle
what is farro?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I should have added a little explanation as to what it is - thanks for the idea to do that. It's a wheat whole grain. I use it interchangeable with barley. The flavor, appearance, and texture are very similar.
Rita Held
Tasty! Now I can use up the last of the farro in my cupboard (that which I bought last fall).
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Rita. I keep a container of cooked farro and one of cooked quinoa in my refrigerator all the time now so I can just throw some into a salad or mix it into casseroles or other veggies. That's actually how I came up with this, and now it's in regular rotation since Myles likes it too.
Norma Chang
Adding wine to the blanching water is new to me, must give that a try. A very colorful and satisfying salad.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Norma. I've made it with and without it, and including the wine really adds something to the entire dish from the asparagus to the farro. If I'm running out of water towards the end of cooking the farro, instead of adding water, I'll add a little more of the wine.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Suzanne. Hope you had a great time with your grandkids! This is a great way to use farro, and one of my favorite ways these days. Hope you have a chance to try it 🙂
Baker Street
This would be a great way to use up my left over farro! Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. The salad looks fantastic.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much!! I hope you have a chance to try it - it's definitely one of my favorite recipes for farro. Even my husband likes it 🙂
Yve
Great recipe - haven't done a lot of cooking with farro but definitely think it qualifies in the sexy vegetarian books! Love the use of goats cheese 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I confess I hadn't tried farro until I was in culinary school a few years ago. I found that I really liked it and have been playing with it and barley ever since. It's the new black - everyone's wanting to work with it now 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment, Yve!
Lynda - TasteFood
What a beautiful dish! I love the balance of nutty farro with all of these fresh spring ingredients.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Lynda! I love your farro dish too. It's perfect!
Bevi
I just roasted some cherry tomatoes - and will get some farro to make this dish. this is year one for our asparagus patch - it doesn't look too great, but I guess I have to wait patiently for a few more years.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Well, your asparagus patch is doing better than mine did. My asparagus plant did wonderful as long as it was in a pot in my very sunny, warm kitchen window. But as soon as it was planted in the ground, it went downhill. I don't think it's sunny enough here in the foggy summers we get. Luckily we have farms nearby in sunnier micro-climates. I hope you like this dish - we just love it!
Hannah
This is a fabulous salad! I wish I could spoon a big scoop right out of your beautiful photo - such a tempting dish. Farro is a terrific grain to use - thanks for the inspiration!