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When I was growing up, salad was regularly the vegetable side dish of choice. My mother would put me to work tearing up iceberg lettuce and grating in carrots, and sometimes we’d throw in some cherry tomatoes or sliced cucumber. I loathed this dinner chore — partly because of the tedium of tearing up lettuce and patting it dry, but also because the eating of this salad also felt like chore. It was the vegetable you had to munch through before getting to the good part of dinner. Can you relate?
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Now that summer is 100% here and the temperature is creeping ever upwards, I’m putting a lot of make-ahead pasta and grain salads on the menu. This colorful salad is an oldie but goodie, and a variation of another favorite of mine, my Roasted Beet and Barley Salad. I love the bright pops of golden beets and red onions mixed in with the barley and wilted chard stems. It’s all tied together with a quick lemony dressing and topped with a sprinkle of salty feta.
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I was not, in fact, looking for a new farro dish. It rarely occurs to me over the summer, when there’s more eggplant/zucchini/tomatoes/peaches/plums/berries than anyone could fathom going through in the scant weeks they’re available, to wish I had more whole grains in my diet. And since we’re being honest, only occasionally in times that it probably should, such as in February, when refined flours and pasta are used to fill the endless gap in growing seasons. But, as it happens, because I’m terrible at timely meal-planning, I was attempting to make this chicken for dinner a couple weeks ago and it wasn’t ready on time, or even close to it, and I remembered a one-pan linguine dish I’d read about in Martha Stewart Living last month that sounded fascinating. Realizing I had almost all the ingredients on hand, I rustled it up instead and felt like such a domestic diva, I nearly took a bow when I brought it out, but resisted, as I prefer to only drop one dish a season. In the dish, pasta, only enough water to cook it, an onion, garlic cloves, some cherry tomatoes, olive oil, basil, salt and red pepper flakes are combined cold, brought up to a boil and cooked until the pasta is al dente and everything else becomes the dish’s saucy servant, all in a single saucepan, all at once. I realize you’re all leaving me right now to make it this very moment, and I don’t blame you. At the very least, you need to bookmark the recipe for when you’re in a pinch, and really, when is anyone not?
The thing is, it totally fit the dinner bill when we needed it to but I wasn’t as crazy about it as I should have been. It was… soft. The sauce seemed a little gummy. I had barely finished my second bite when I became obsessed, yes, actually preoccupied to the point of sickness, with making the dish with farro instead. Farro, a variety of wheat grain (here’s a fantastic guide I found to more) that that has a meaty chew I find appealing in salads, soups, faux-risottos and more, isn’t bad the way it is usually cooked — in water, maybe with a pinch of salt — but it’s hard to argue it wouldn’t benefit from a more complex flavor base. To wit, you rarely see farro dishes or salads that don’t include at least one sweet thing (dried fruit or roasted-until-sweet vegetables), one bright thing (vinegar, lemon juice or a bit of pickled onion), one salty thing (crumbled feta, ricotta salata or anchovies), one crunchy thing (usually toasted nuts) and a good helping of a fat, usually olive oil, and if you’re lucky, all of the above. But imagine if farro arrived from its saucepan already perfectly balanced and ready to eat?
… Read the rest of one-pan farro with tomatoes on smittenkitchen.com
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permalink to one-pan farro with tomatoes | 63 comments to date | see more: Grain/Rice, Photo, Quick, Summer, Tomatoes, Vegetarian
4.5 / 5 Stars | 16 Reviews
by sueb
“These biscotti have a hint of banana and rum, and a nutty crunch of toasted pecans. ”
Sometimes, dirty dishes can be beautiful.
I haven’t counted, but my rough estimate is that I’ve written around 250 Weekend Meditations over the past five years and so, somewhat randomly, I thought this would be a good time explain why I do this and why it is important to me, and to The Kitchn.
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4.43 / 5 Stars | 41 Reviews
by KEEBLER5
“This easy recipe requires only three ingredients, and can be prepared in under an hour!”
Happy Saturday, friends! Popular posts this week on The Kitchn include a tour of a lovely Nashville kitchen, a recipe for Big Sur blackberry scones, a great trick to avoid soggy fruit desserts, our readers’ best tips for getting rid of fruit flies, and a guide to when and what to eat for Ramadan.
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4.59 / 5 Stars | 34 Reviews
by Amy
“This refreshing soup originates from Spain and is served ice cold. The base of the soup is made with fresh tomatoes, cucumber and peppers. For a smoother soup, puree more than half of the vegetables. If you prefer it chunky – don’t puree them at all. It’s even better if you can leave this soup overnight to allow the flavors to develop.”
Classic Summer Recipe: Blueberry Pie
Happy weekend! I’m headed out — well, in, really — for a week of staycation and looking forward to some good books and restful days. What about you? Are you on vacation, headed there, or on your way back in? Wherever you are, I hope your kitchen is busy and cooking up good things. (Can we suggest a pie, or maybe an upside-down cake?) We’d love to hear what your cooking plans are these summer days, and whatever you’re cooking, happy weekend!
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Like this Small Cool Kitchens 2013 contest entry? Favorite it below! 
