Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Apple Farro Salad

Farro – if you haven’t had it yet, you must. It’s sort of like oatmeal’s heartier, more substantial cousin, with a slightly chewier mouthfeel and incredible versatility.

Farro makes a wonderful base for grain salads. In this dish, savory sweet potatoes lend nicely to the grain, and sweet apples offer a nice contrasting crunch. Butternut squash cubes work wonderfully in this recipe, as well.

To make the prep as quick as possible, buy pre-cut and peeled butternut squash and/or sweet potatoes from Trader Joe’s, as well as their 10-minute quick-cooking farro. If you’re gluten-free, simply sub brown rice or quinoa for farro.

This is 1 of 7 meals from the round-up How to Make a Week’s Worth of Vegan Meals for Under $30 From Trader Joe’s.

Farro Salad with Chickpeas, Sweet Potato and Apple

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 5 minutesCook time: 10 minutesTotal time: 15 minutesServings:1 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro
• 1 cup peeled, cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash
• 1 cup arugula
• 1 large apple, chopped
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 2 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon cumin, cayenne, paprika, or taco seasoning (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. 
   

   Cook farro following instructions on package. When cooked, set aside 1/3 of cooked farro and store in the fridge for the Farro, Veggie and Bean Soup later in the week.

2. 
   

   While farro is cooking, lightly coat squash with 1 tablespoon of oil and spice of choice (cumin, cayenne, taco seasoning, or none) and place in the microwave for 4-6 minutes until squash is tender.

3. Chop 1/2 apple into bite sized pieces.

4. Drain and rinse canned chickpeas.

5. Place cooked farro in a bowl. Add squash, apple, arugula, chickpeas, 2 tablespoons olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and seasonings if desired.

6. 
   

   Toss until all ingredients are mixed and evenly coated with oil and lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste.

• Vegetarian