Do you ever eat farro?
It’s an ancient grain
related to wheat. It has a
wonderfully nutty, rich flavor
and works beautifully as a side
dish to chicken and pork. You cook
it much like you would prepare a
rice pilaf-sauteing garlic and
onions first, adding the farro
and water and simmering until
done. This recipe comes from my
chef friends Kathi Riley
and Brenda Ruiz, who prepared a
similar dish for a recent local
fundraiser to benefit
Sacramento’s Food
Literacy Center (a non-profit doing
amazing work here inspiring
children to eat good food, check
them out!) Out of all the fabulous
dishes that evening, this one was
my favorite. I went back for
seconds, thirds, and fourths, and
couldn’t wait to make it.
In this recipe we cook farro with
onions, garlic, herbs, and water,
and then mix with sauteed Swiss
chard and radicchio (a chicory that
looks like red cabbage, but
isn’t). I hope you give
it a try! Do you have any favorite
farro recipes? Please tell us about
them in the comments. Prep the
swiss chard and radicchio while the
farro is cooking. Farro comes in
different forms, for this we are
using pearled farro. If you are
using a different type of farro,
check the cooking time and
instructions on the farro package.