This has become one of my favorite quick and easy dinners the past few months and it is perfect for summer.
I love this meal because it requires almost no prep time and it is so filling while still being a pretty darn healthy meal. I find this recipe makes enough for two to three meals- so I can pack it up in a jar and it is ready to grab for lunch the next day.
If you have not had Farro it is a grain that is very popular in Italy and is just starting to gain momentum in the States. It has a light flavor with just a tiny bit of nuttiness- sort of like brown rice. Farro reminds me of making risotto except it is so much faster and easier. It isn’t as creamy but like Risotto you can add so many different kinds of ingredients to Farro and it is delicious.
It has tons of fiber in it (more then Quinoa) and lots of protein- so very filling and gives you energy for the rest of your day.
You cook farro similar to rice- just bring water to a boil and then simmer the Farro covered for about 30 minutes. Then you can add in any ingredients you like- fresh tomatoes, assorted vegetables, pomegranate, mushroom, kale, turkey, chicken….
The nice thing about Farro is that it compliments citrus really well and you can also make something similar to rice pudding or an oatmeal. So super versitile.
This is my favorite way to make it and it just literally takes a few seconds of prep and then just simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes.
- Farro
- Feta Cheese (optional)
- Sun Dried Tomatoes in oil
- Artichoke Hearts chopped
- Cook 1 cup Farro according to package directions. Typically you will bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add 1 cup Farro, cover the pot and let it simmer for 25-30 min until the water dissolves.
- Remove from heat and drain off any small amounts of excess water.
- Roughly chop about ½ cup of artichoke hearts.
- Mix artichoke and Farro in a bowl and add about ½ cup sun dried tomatoes. You want to include the olive oil marinade from your jar to give extra flavor to the Farro.
- Sprinkle with a light dusting of Feta Cheese and Enjoy!
You should be able to find Farro at many grocery stores with the Quinoa and such. I buy a 3lb Di Amante Organic Farro for about $6 at my Costco. That is a huge bag and lasts for ages.
For the sun dried tomato and artichokes it is really to taste how much you add. The oils from the tomatoes will give your farro most of the flavor so you don’t want to drain that off. If you are really watching calories, you want to go easy on the oil because it is roughly 45 calories per 2 teaspoons of tomatoes in oil.
Oh and if you are not a feta person (sorry we can’t be friends anymore… wait I take that back- more for me!)- you might add a little shaved parmesan cheese to the top instead.
Also as for my kiddos- they will have absolutely nothing to do with this dish. They will however, very happily eat plain Farro as a side dish and because I am a very mean Mom I also add peas, corn or chopped tomatoes. Really couldn’t be easier!
If you decide to try this let me know how you like it!
And if you are in the mood for Mexican, check out this easy homemade salsa recipe!
Yum! This sounds delicious! My hubby has been working out of town for weeks on end so it is just me and the kiddos, we’ve been doing lots of meatless meals. I think I’ll have to try this and use your kid-approved topping choices for the kids. Have you ever tried cotija cheese? It is a Mexican cheese, similar to Feta. I bet that would be good with this too.
Yes Stephanie I think you are right. Maybe grape tomatoes and cilantro and Cortija… I use it on my grilled corn recipe which is crazy good:
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2012/05/recipe-mexican-grilled-corn/
We are eating a lot more meatless because I am vegetarian but also because it is sure a kick to the you know what to pay the prices for organic meat :). We watched Food Inc recently so I haven’t been able to buy conventional meat.
I am a mean mom too. My kids complain about the “green stuff” in their food, but I just keep putting it in 🙂
This recipe reminds me of your orzo pasta salad, which I LOVE!! I will try this one soon for sure. Thanks for the healthy recipe. I really need it now, since I’ve been hooked on those darn magic shell recipes you posted.
LOL- I love that Orzo too but sometimes it feels like too much work :D. The girls and I are playing with homemade ice cream recipes this weekend Nicole- no ice cream maker needed. More bad news 😉
I really don’t mean for this to be rude, at all. But I’m having a hard time figuring out how this recipe and a lot of your recent posts fits into your description of the blog that is right on the home page:
“This blog is written for those that want to learn how to seriously stretch a dollar. By sticking to a budget and making every penny count we are able to enjoy life and spend money on the things that are really important to us.”
I’ve been a follower for almost 3 years now, but am just feeling like the site is getting really diluted with things that don’t fall in that category and many repeat posts. If you want to be a lifestyle blog (children’s crafts, recipes, DIY projects), then I would suggest updating the description.
Oh great!
By the way, as picky as my son is, I made your salsa recipe and he loved it.
Erin, that was not a kind thing to say. I am sorry if you don’t like the extra posts. I typically post 15-25 things per day and of that maybe 4 in a week are lifestyle related. So not even 1% of the posts. I personally don’t find it interesting to post one coupon after another after another after another- especially since I have been doing this for over 4 years. It would be impossible for me to please every person with every post and I work VERY hard at evolving the site. I also work very hard to set myself apart from the tens of thousands of other sites out there. When I started my site you could count on two hands how many coupon blogs were out there. Now I believe tens of thousands is not an overstatement. Most of the new ones simply copy what those of us started doing years ago which means that I can either try to come up with new things or just give up and post the exact same thing you will find on a million other web sites. If a post doesn’t appeal to you- especially considering there are maybe 4 a week- why not just skip it? I really don’t think “repeat posts” is a fair statement either. I might repost something from last year and again considering over 100 things appear on this site in any given week to suggest that reposting something once a year is unreasonable seems really ridiculous to me.
If you strictly want to see one coupon after another after another, perhaps you can follow coupons.com. Although I should warn you I saw a recipe on their Facebook wall for homemade Playdoh last weekend.
Charlene –
I’m really sorry you took my comment as unkind; I had hoped it might be constructive given my history following your blog. There is nothing wrong with a lifestyle blog; I just think that is what your site has evolved into…and I would hope the description would reflect that. I have a blog I follow for party ideas, a couple for recipes and yours exclusively for deals/frugal living (notice I didn’t only say coupons). All of the other blogs stay true to their descriptions…and in my opinion, that’s what gives them their credibility (and sets them apart from all the others). Hopefully plenty of other readers appreciate having a one-stop shopping blog. I really have appreciated all your work finding deals. I did used to follow several of the deal blogs years ago and it quickly got narrowed down to only yours. But since I’m looking for a site that is deals only, I’m afraid it’s time for me to go elsewhere. (And no, it won’t be coupons.com…especially since you mention there’s tens of thousands for me to choose from now.)
Ok well thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. I did check and there were 90 posts this week, three of which were not traditionally coupon or deal related. So I think to rebrand myself as a lifestyle blog with those kind of stats would not be accurate.
I don’t think three posts out of 90 that are not strictly coupon or shopping deal related means I lack credibility. I think it is an effort to bring a little something different to the table.
It occured to me that I too follow 4 recipe blogs and I realized that I only actually clicked through to read one post this week from all the things those four blogs posted. The one thing I clicked on was not a recipe but an article one of them wrote. Instead of sending a comment to that site telling them that they aren’t allowed to post anything that is not a recipe- since it is a food blog after all- that article actually wound up being the only thing I clicked on this week.
So again not every single thing I post is going to appeal to every person. You are a pretty tough customer though if 3 posts out of 90 total that you personally don’t care for means that My Frugal Adventures is no longer credible or worth reading to you. Best of luck to you Erin.
Thanks for the healthy recipes you post. I love getting new ideas for food and natural cleaning, etc. and it’s one of my favorite things on your blog. I love the variety.
Charlene, you do an amazing job making your blog interesting and I personally look forward to your random posts of recipes and natural cleaners. I must also say some of them have saved me money by using things I have on hand. I enjoy your writing style. Thanks for all you do!!:)
I just do not understand why anyone leaves negative comments on this blog. If for whatever reason you do not like a post..find it boring…think what is posted is irrelevant…then by all means please go elsewhere. Sure not everything that is posted is of interest to me. If I’m not interested I just move on to the next post. I love that this blog isn’t just one coupon deal after another. I can only begin to imagine the amount of time it takes to post everything Charlene does. It is very much appreciated.
This recipe was fantastic! I appreciate all your posts. Thanks for all that you do. 🙂
Oh Yari- you liked? I am SO glad! I wasn’t sure if this was just something to my tastes- but crazy easy and very filling right?