Roasted Sweet Potato & Farro Salad

Hi there!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was exactly what I wanted it to be: productive yet also relaxing. Since I’m flying to the East coast this upcoming weekend for the holidays (!!!), I wanted to get some Christmas shopping done and clean my house – check, check. Since it has been SO chilly in the Bay Area and I’m a baby in the cold weather, I didn’t have any outdoor workouts besides long walks with Harley, but I did do at-home workouts both yesterday and today. I probably look like such a nut  awesome jumping around my living room doing burpees and pushups while watching football… hey, whatever works up a sweat right?! A lot of good food made its way into my belly this weekend, including:

A post-workout bowl of goodness: chopped apple & banana sprinkled with cinnamon, honey Greek yogurt, a Quest apple pie bar, Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal and almond butter

A ginormous taco salad from a Mexican restaurant in Campbell called El Guapo’s. It was packed with lettuce, black beans, corn, cheese, pico de gallo, topped with guacamole and sour cream, and came with a tomatillo vinaigrette. The crispy flour tortilla it came in was so yummy!

Being that we were in walking distance of my favorite cupcake place in the area, Frost Cupcake Factory, I couldn’t resist getting a few to split with my hubby for dessert: one was chocolate mint, one was pumpkin spice. Drooool. I joked on Instagram that I died and went to cupcake heaven!

I tried a recipe for butternut squash, potato & white bean soup from Jazzy Vegetarian. It looks kind of plain but was really tasty and filling! More on the recipe to come later in the week when I do a review of the cookbook.

And onto the recipe I’m sharing with you today…

I cooked with farro for the first time and came up with the above dish: sweet potato & farro salad.

The first time I’ve ever eaten farro was a few months ago in a ridiculously overpriced airport restaurant. I had low expectations for the Mediterranean farro salad I ordered, but was pleasantly surprised that it was actually pretty good.

For those of you unfamiliar with farro, it’s an ancient wheat from Italy. When I spotted pre-cooked farro at Trader Joe’s recently, I nabbed a bag to play around with at home.

Though I usually prefer my sweet potatoes sweet (love em with cinnamon & brown sugar!), I had this idea to create a savory farro recipe with roasted sweet potatoes. First, I peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes, tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them on a baking sheet.

Next, I cooked and drained the farro, then placed it in a large bowl. I added avocado, feta, and red onion, then added the cooked sweet potatoes. I whisked together a dressing of olive oil, honey & red wine vinegar, then drizzling it on top and tossing to combine.

Roasted Sweet Potato & Farro Salad

Foodie Loves Fitness

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Servings 4

Calories 380 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 cup pre-cooked farro
• 1 medium avocado
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese with garlic & herb seasonings if available
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP red onion
• 1/2 TBSP honey
• 1/2 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 1/2 TSP salt & 1/4 TSP pepper plus additional to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into cubes. Place in a bowl. Drizzle 1 TBSP of olive oil on top, and add 1/2 TSP salt and 1/4 TSP pepper.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender but mildly undercooked. (You don't want mushy sweet potatoes!)
• While allowing potatoes to slightly cool, cook the farro according to directions.
• Mince the red onion and cube the avocado.
• Once farro is done cooking, drain, then place in a large bowl. Add the sweet potato cubes, crumbled feta and red onion.
• Whisk the remaining 1 TBSP of olive oil, honey and red wine vinegar together. Drizzle over salad, season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to combine well.

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 9gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 4gFiber: 6g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Questions: Have you ever eaten farro? What’s the best thing you ate this weekend?