This Lemony Farro Arugula Salad is a simple, refreshing salad with so much freshness, flavor, and texture! It’s filled with grape tomatoes, thinly sliced radishes, chopped pistachios, shaved parmesan, lots of chopped parsley, fresh mint, and a super easy and delicious lemon vinaigrette!
My obsession with this insanely good salad started when my cousin introduced me to this salad. I’ve made so many versions of farro and arugula salads over the years, but this one is the absolute best. I love the chewiness and heartiness that farro adds to salads, and arugula is forever one of my favorite greens. I love the flavor and pepperiness – it’s so much more interesting than your average spring mix!
In the original recipe, he uses regular farro (not the quick cooking kind), and cooks it in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. I have tried it that way, and it really gives the farro a delicious and unique taste, but for ease and time saving reasons, I used the quick cooking farro, just boiled it in water, and added a touch of apple cider vinegar in the dressing for that extra tanginess.
The texture and flavor in this salad is seriously out. of. this. world. I can’t get enough of it! To break it all down for you, we’ve got:
quick cooking farro – I buy mine at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods and it literally cooks in 10 minutes, just like you’d boil pasta! I also add bay leaves to the water when it’s boiling, and it really infuses great flavor. I do this when I cook lentils too! #protip
arugula – the most delicious, peppery salad green!
roasted, salted chopped pistachios – the best nut. especially in salads! emphasis on the roasted & salted.
halved grape tomatoes – makes me think of summer and how spring is on its way!
thinly sliced radishes – always gotta have crunch and that pretty pink color!
shaved parmesan cheese – no explanation needed. cheese in salad > no cheese in salad.
lots of chopped fresh herbs – a mixture of chopped flat leaf parsley and chopped mint is my favorite herb combination in salad, and it makes this one taste SO fresh!
the simplest lemon vinaigrette – literally just lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. that’s it!
This is literally the salad I think of when I think of refreshing, but still so satisfying. The crunchy pistachios and shaved parm really make the salad super satisfying, while still being light. The best of both worlds!
And it’s literally SO easy to put together. And really versatile!
You can really add anything you want to this salad to make it more of a “meal”. Grilled salmon, chicken, flank steak, shrimp, even some cannellini beans or chickpeas would be awesome here!
One thing I will say about this salad, is that it’s best eaten right away. It doesn’t keep well in the fridge, because the radishes can get funky if they sit for awhile, and the arugula is so delicate that it just gets soggy. So no meal prepping this salad, unless you keep all of the ingredients separate, until you serve it! Which is totally do-able!
This bowl of beauty is making me crave spring! As I look out my window to all.the.snow.
Lemony Farro Arugula Salad
This Lemony Farro Arugula Salad is a simple, refreshing salad with so much freshness, flavor, and texture! It's filled with grape tomatoes, thinly sliced radishes, chopped pistachios, shaved parmesan, lots of chopped parsley, fresh mint, and a super easy and delicious lemon vinaigrette!
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup quick cooking farro
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups baby arugula
- 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium bunch radishes, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese*
- 3/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup mint, chopped
- flaky sea salt
For the lemon vinaigrette
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Begin by cooking the farro. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the bay leaves. Once boiling, add the farro and cook for 10 minutes, or according to package directions, until tender. Drain and discard bay leaves. Let cool.
While farro is cooking, make the vinaigrette. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. Slowly stream in the olive oil, whisking to combine. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. Set aside.
Place the arugula in a large bowl. Once cooled, add the farro and toss to combine. Add a tablespoon or two of the vinaigrette and a pinch of flaky sea salt and toss to combine. Add the grape tomatoes, radishes, pistachios, parmesan, parsley, mint, and desired amount of dressing and toss to combine. Add another generous pinch of flaky sea salt and toss again. Serve with extra dressing and extra shaved parm if desired.
Recipe Notes
*Make sure you use a good quality parmesan for this - it makes a big difference. I just shave it right off the wedge with a vegetable peeler!
inspired by and adapted from this salad.
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