After a long hiatus from grains and greens we felt the need to clean out our closets and get back on the fiber horse. The heat of the summer and the impending peril of innumerable events, social obligations, and overtime often keep us from hearty meals. When time is of the essence, sometimes a snack attack is the only source of sustenance solace…
Here’s a little ditty to help slow down the clock and regain focus on proper meal time pleasure. We’d been eyeing a bag of Farro, an ancient heirloom grain that used to feed the Legionnaires, and had just procured an unholy (both in cost and quantity) amount of sweet pea sprouts. The grain salad plus green salad vision was almost instantaneous; the sweet crunchiness of the sprouts floating atop a chewy pile of unhulled grain. We rounded out the fiber bomb with some stovetop grilled squash grown by a favorite farmer dusted with some Raz Al Hanout recently procured from Morocco.
1 cup Farro
4 cups water
½ cup hulled sunflower seeds
2 large shallots, diced
2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 Tsp. sea salt
1 Tbs. ground pepper
1. Bring water to a oil in a pot and add Farro. Cook approximately 15 minutes, or until the grain doesn’t seem dry in the middle: not too soft, but tender.
2. In a cast iron skillet (or a nonstick pan) toast the shallots and the sunflower seeds dry (no oil) on medium heat for about 13 minutes. Stir frequently. When the shallots are beginning to brown, and a sticky film is starting to accumulate in the pan, add the salt and one Tbs. of oil.
3. When the Farro is slightly teder, drain and cool immediately in a collander with cold water and/or ice. Now, add the Farro to the seeds and shallots and cook for another 5 minutes until the grains are slightly crunchy. Finish with the remaining oil and the pepper and remove from heat
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Summer Squash
4 Scallions
1 Tsp Raz Al Hanout
1 Tsp. Smoked Paprika
1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4. Portion the red peppers by slicing off the face of each side of the vegetable. Rub with olive oil and smoked paprika
5. Slice the squash similarly, by laying it on its side and making long ¼” slices. Rub with olive oil and Raz al Hanout.
6. Trim off the outermost layer of the scallions, ans snip their greens short 1″ from the top.
Using a grill or a nonstick pan, sear veggies on both sized with high heat and a little oil. All you need do is color each side of each veggie—they’ll finish cooking by the time you eat them.
1 cup pea sprouts
Juice of one Lemon
1 Tbs. Saba
2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
7. Wash the pea sprouts in cold water.
8. Combine the Saba and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk in the olive oil in a steady stream.
9. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette.
10. Top a portion of the cooked Farro with a hefty pinch of pea sprouts, and flank with grilled veggies and the hot sauce of your choice.
Beverage: Los Abbey’s Inferno Ale
Soundtrack: Brian Eno’s Baby’s On Fire
