I’ve never really loved farro until I made this dish. The secret to the nuttiness of this dish is to toast the farro beforehand. This month of October has been a whirlwind of exams and assignments due one after another, and November is looking a little bit better in terms of workload, and I can’t wait to do more blogposts, especially when the holidays are getting closer and closer day by day.
I can’t wait to make this for our annual high school girls Christmas reunion this year, because it was one dang good of a dish, and I need an excuse to make it again for the friends and family. Since my exam schedule this year is very unfortunate (my last exam is scheduled to be 3 days before christmas eve. oh woe is me), I’ll need something that isn’t too complicated to whip up to buy myself more study time. But this is me speaking in November, and by December I’ll probably be walking into the exam room with nothing on my brain (cause that’s me for every exam essentially) but with thirty Christmas songs stuck in my head.
Farro is like the heartier cousin of brown rice, and is extremely high in fiber, as well as an excellent source of protein, iron, B vitamins, and magnesium. It has a chewy texture, and makes a great alternative to rice and quinoa so you can add more variety to your pantry! Look for whole farro and not the ones packaged as “pearl farro” because that means it’s been partially processed and some of the nutrients and fibre have been removed from the grain. I find that farro does take longer to cook than brown rice and quinoa, but soaking it overnight can help shorten cooking time! If overnight-prepping isn’t your thing (don’t worry, it’s not mine either), then just allow 20-25 minutes of cooking on the stovetop; nothing to stress about!
Enjoy this fall/winter dish with your family and friends this harvest and holiday season!
- ½ c. dry farro + 1¼ c. water
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 small pepper, diced
- 2-3 c. spinach
- 4-5 mushrooms, sliced
- ½ tbsp. sesame oil + 2 tsp.
- ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 3 tbsp. soy sauce
- In a pan over medium heat, toast the dry farro for 10 minutes. Once toasted, cook farro with 1¼ cups of water by bringing it to a boil, then let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, just until tender. Remove from heat for 5-10 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, add in ½ tbsp. sesame oil and sautee the onion, garlic, pepper, spinach together. Add in the farro to the pan, as well as the red pepper flakes, soy sauce, and the additional 2 tsp. of sesame oil.
- Serve immediately.
This looks so delicious, I can’t wait to give it a try!
This fried faro sounds amazing! I still haven’t tried faro yet, it will happen soon!