I always shop for food with the best of intentions: I want healthy, in-season produce with which to make new and interesting meals. Hopefully, these meals are both dinner-worthy and blog-worthy, but of course that isn’t always the case.  

Because of these (quite lofty, really) ideals, I always try to push my boundaries with the food that I buy, often picking out things just because they look interesting or pretty. Therein lies the problem. While I probably like a good variety of vegetables, there are far fewer that I actually know what to do with. So my good intentions can often languish in the vegetable crisper for days, resulting in wilted vegetables and a benign sense of failure.

I hinted on Sunday that I was half-expecting this outcome with the green beans I bought. They always say “side” to me, and as someone far too lazy for anything more than one-dish meals, that never bodes well. My patch for this problem (quite common for vegetarians) is to add starch: grains and legumes can both help to elevate a modest vegetable to something resembling a meal. 

Casting my net around for some inspiration, I saw this salad over at 100 Cookbooks yesterday. I’ve never seen wheat berries in the shops around here, but I figured they couldn’t be that different from my favourite go-to grain, farro. With the rocket thrown in for good measure and a favourite salad dressing to bring everything together, the flavours became perfectly balanced: nutty, sweet, spicy. The slight tang of the dressing and the salty pecorino finished things off perfectly.

I’m already looking forward to having the rest of this for lunch tomorrow, so I guess that makes this meal dinner-worthy, blog-worthy and leftover-worthy. Not bad for a “side-dish veg”, wouldn’t you agree?

• Farro and Green Bean Salad
• serves 3 as a main, more as a side
• Salad
  1 cup (approx 180g) uncooked farro
  225g green beans 
  several handfuls (approx 35g) young, fresh rocket
  black pepper, to taste
  pecorino romano cheese, to serve

  Dressing
  1/4 cup olive oil
  2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
  2 tsp. soy sauce
  1 tsp. honey
  juice and half a lime
  pinch of sea salt
  black pepper 

• 1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. When it boils, add the farro and cook for 25 minutes, until tender but still slightly chewy. 
  
  2. Trim the stem ends of the green beans, and if they’re very long, cut them into manageable 2-3″ lengths. Add to the boiling water (with the farro) for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse everything in cold water and set aside in a large bowl.
  
  3. Meanwhile, mix together all dressing ingredients. Pepper to taste, mix well and set aside. 
  
  4. Just before you’re ready to eat, toss the farro and bean mixture with the dressing and rocket. Serve with shaved pecorino and freshly ground pepper on top.

The last time I made Baked Feta, my friend Larissa left a suggestion in my comments box: turn the entire ramekin of cheesy, tomato-y goodness out onto a bed of leaves. Not only did this idea sound like a fabulous way to spice up a salad, but it came from The Sainted Larissa, so I knew it had to be good.

You could probably use some background here, huh? In highschool, Larissa used to host elaborate dinner parties for all of our friends; addictive appetizers, salads, mains and a dessert spread to rival Martha Stewart were usually on the menu. (Our friend Margaux can vouch for this too.) Lest you think I’m exaggerating this girl’s talent, don’t: she was teaching cooking classes by the age of 16, I kid you not.

The Sainted Larissa wasn’t a name she used for herself, of course. As well as being culinarily gifted, Larissa is also unfailingly modest. No, this was my sister‘s title for my friend. A keen chef herself, Hilary was slightly jealous of Larissa, and would corner me the morning after one of these parties, demanding a run-down on the evening’s spoils. I usually brought her a goodie bag of dessert samples, which I wouldn’t be surprised to learn she examined and deconstructed in an elaborate attempt to decipher Larissa’s secrets. (Not that I have proof of that, of course.) So, “The Sainted” became Larissa’s title in my sister’s books, born out of one-sided competition and a touch of bitterness. 

I was planning to make this for lunch yesterday for another old friend. Fiona was staying with us for one night, on her way back to Canada from a ten day pilgrimage in Israel. She filled me in on all the delicious food she’d eaten while away, but confessed to be craving carbs. Uh oh- suddenly my Larissa-approved gourmet lunch didn’t look so promising. 

After mulling it over for a while, I decided to add some cooked farro (you’ll recall that I love farro), to the salad part of the dish. As well as the longed-for carbs, I changed up the recipe in a few other ways, too. I left out (um, forgot) the onion and oregano, though it didn’t matter too much. As per Larissa’s suggestion, I added some olives to the mix, along with a bit of leftover goat’s cheese that I had in the fridge, both of which upped the flavour here.

When I served this, a strange phenomenon occurred: Fiona and I sat in silence as we worked our way through our bowls. For two friends who live in separate countries, one of whom has just been on the adventure of a lifetime, you’ll agree that this is a little unusual. While I can’t be sure what Fiona was thinking, I, like my sister with her bag of desserts all those years ago, was quietly appreciating Larissa’s genius. Without the competitive undertone, of course- I really have no hope there. 

• Baked Feta over Spinach and Farro Salad
• serves 2
• Baked Feta
  1/3 cup crumbled feta
  1/4 cup crumbled soft goat’s cheese
  1 medium tomato, de-seeded and chopped roughly
  2 Tbs. chopped sundried or sunblush tomatoes
  2 Tbs. chopped black or green olives (pitted)
  1 small clove garlic, minced
  1 Tbs. tomato paste
  1 Tbs. olive oil
  2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  pinch of chili flakes
  pinch of sea salt     

  Spinach and Farro Salad
  1/2 cup uncooked farro, rinsed
  3 cups fresh spinach, washed
  1 Tbs. olive oil
  1 Tbs. lemon juice
  sea salt and black pepper

• 1. Start by putting a pot of water on to boil, and preheating your oven to 200°C/385°F. When the water boils, salt it lightly and add the farro. Boil for 25 minutes, until tender but still slightly chewy. 
  
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the Baked Feta. Gently mix together all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Lightly coat the insides of two ramekins with olive oil, and divide the mixture between them. Cover with tin foil and bake for 15-20 minutes, until bubbling. Let cool for 3 minutes.
  
  3. When the farro is done cooking, drain and rinse with cold water. Add to a bowl with the spinach, olive oil and lemon juice. Toss everything to coat and season to taste. 
  
  4. Distribute the salad mixture between two bowls or plates, and carefully invert the (now slightly cooled, though you will still need an oven mitt) over the top. Serve immediately.

Wow, two farro recipes in as many days. Not very adventurous of me, I’ll admit. Typical, though; I tend to get into “moods ruts” in my cooking, becoming obsessed with a particular ingredient and eating it for days on end until my interest wanes.

In farro’s case, though, this isn’t all that surprising. One of those grains that’s often added cold and pre-cooked to a dish, farro is perfect for making in advance and keeping in the fridge. So whenever I’m in a farro mood, I usually boil up a couple cups of it to use in recipes like this. 

I made this salad the day before we flew to New York, thinking that we’d eat it for lunch the next day before we left for the airport. It was so good, though, that we ate the whole bowl for dinner, right there and then. Oh, well- in theory it makes a lovely lunch. If you can hold out. 

Andrew, who doesn’t much like salads or asparagus (or goat’s cheese or lemon, come to think of it) loved this. Its beauty, I think, is in the textures: the chewy farro grains, crispy asparagus, crunchy almonds and soft cheese complement each other so well. I just wish I could take credit for it.

Most of the recipes I post here are my own, or else tweaked enough that I feel I can take credit for them. This dish came to me almost fully-formed, via this post at The Kitchn. I think there’s still hope for a more original version, though. I imagine that this basic recipe is infinitely adaptable, and I’m already thinking of versions using different veggies, cheeses and flavourings.

Off to cook another few cups of farro, I guess.  

• Farro Salad with Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and Almonds
• (barely) adapated from The Kitchn
• serves 2 as a main, or 4 as a side or snack
• approximately 2 cups cold cooked farro
  8-10 asparagus spears, blanched and cut into 1″ pieces
  2 Tbs. olive oil
  zest and juice of one lemon
  50g soft goat’s cheese
  20g raw almonds, chopped (you can also used slivered or blanched almonds, but I prefer the texture of these) 
  salt and pepper to taste 
• 1. Mix everything but the cheese, almonds, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Refrigerate until you plan to serve, up to 24 hours but for at least 30 minutes. (This is especially important if you have just cooked the farro and/or blanched the asparagus. You want the salad to be cold when you add the cheese, so it won’t melt!)

  2. About 30 minutes before you want to serve this, remove from the fridge. Sprinkle in the almonds, crumble in the goat’s cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add a touch more olive oil, as the farro tends to soak up the liquid. Serve at room temperature, or slightly chilled. 

I feel irrationally anxious about posting a recipe on this blog that contains meat. Now that I’ve announced to the world that I don’t eat it, you’d think I’d stand by that claim. To be fair though, I did say that my diet was largely vegetarian, not completely, and besides, I have a very good reason for this.

See, I love pancetta. I love its deep saltyness, love how it makes the flavour of any ingredient you pair it with come alive. They say that bacon is the one thing many vegetarians miss the most when they give up meat. Well, pancetta is my bacon of choice.

Perhaps coincidentally, (or perhaps not, seeing as I used to cook with it all the time), it’s also my boyfriend’s bacon of choice. So for Andrew’s birthday earlier this month, I bought 100g of pancetta at the supermarket, in order to make one of his favourite dishes. Of course the recipe (Shrimp and Beans by Giuliano Hazan- you must try it, it’s delicious) only called for half of that, and the leftover sat in the fridge for about a week while I fretted. Surely one meaty meal, for a loved one’s birthday, is forgiveable? But two? I wasn’t sure. But letting the remains go to waste- that’s got to be worse than eating it, right? In the end my desire for pancetta waste reduction won out, and I decided to use up the leftovers with this fried rice dish. 

Of course the rice here is not actually rice. I love this classic Chinese dish, but had been getting a little bored of it earlier this year. Ever since I saw this post from The Kitchn, however, I’ve fallen back in love. I love farro, the ancient grain of the Romans, and using it in place of rice makes perfect sense. Barely changing the flavours at all, the chewy, nutty grains simply improve the texture of the dish. 

The addition of the pancetta might seem odd at first. I’ve been doing this since high school, but I can understand how the addition of something so clearly Italian to a dish so obviously Asian might seem strange to some purists. But trust me: with the shrimp, vegetables and curry powder, this is fusion at its best.

• Curry Fried Farro with Egg, Shrimp and Pancetta
• serves 4
• 2 Tbs. neutral oil
  1 small onion
  1 bell pepper (any colour), cored, seeded and roughly chopped
  50g pancetta, chopped or sliced finely
  g raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
  3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas (if frozen, defrost them first)
  1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
  2 tsp. minced fresh ginger 
  1 small red chili, de-seeded and chopped finely
  2 tsp. hot curry powder
  2 to 3 cups cooked farro
  2 eggs, lightly beaten
  2 Tbs. soy sauce
  2 Tbs. sesame oil 
  1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
  2 Tbs. finely chopped coriander
• 1. Once you’ve got everything mise en place, (which can take some time with so many ingredients, but is very worth it for a recipe like this!), heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a large nonstick pan over med-high heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes, until they soften and begin to brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 
  
  2. Turn the heat up to high and add the pancetta. Cook for about a minute, then add the shrimp. When they are pink all the way through and the pancetta is getting crispy (about 1-2 minutes later), add the mixture to the bowl with the onion and pepper. 
  
  3. Briefly add the peas to the pan to warm them through, about one minute. Add to the bowl with everything else.
  
  4. Put the remaining oil in the pan and heat through. Add the garlic, ginger and chili, and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the curry powder, mix quickly, and then add the farro. Stir so that the farro gets evenly coated with the oil/garlic/ginger mixture. 
  
  5. After a minute or so, when the farro is warmed through, push it  to the sides of the pan so you have a space in the middle. Add the beaten eggs and leave to cook for about 30 seconds without touching them. Then start to scramble the eggs- you can either scramble them in the well completely, to leave more curds, or mix into the farro mixture, in which way they act like a thickener. 
  
  6. Add the veggies, pancetta and shrimp back into the pan, and stir to heat through. After a minute or two, stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions and coriander. Remove from heat and serve immediately.