This is quickly becoming one of our favorite salads. It’s amazing any time of year, but it’s especially good in the fall. Crisp apples and toasted pecans paired with nutty farro and peppery arugula, then topped with crunchy fried shallots.
As if all that wasn’t enough, it’s tossed in an absolutely delicious vinaigrette that’s the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Yes, please!
Not only is this salad delicious, it’s good for you, too. Thanks to healthy ingredients like farro, arugula, and apple, this dish is high in fiber, protein, and iron. It’s also hearty enough to stand on its own as a light lunch. Or if you’re looking for a bit more, top it with roast chicken.
We like to serve it at dinner with roasted pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes or butternut squash. It balances out the savory flavor of the pork and complements the richness of the sweet potatoes.
Better yet, making it isn’t difficult, but it does take a little time. The farro needs close to an hour to cook and cool, and frying the shallots takes about 20 minutes. The latter can be done while the farro is cooking and cooling.
Other than those two steps, the rest moves pretty quickly, including the dressing which takes maybe five minutes to make.
So gather the ingredients including your favorite apple variety and get ready to savor the flavors of fall!
Try our Italian-Style Farro Salad loaded with garden fresh veggies!
Harvest Farro and Apple Salad
Ingredients
Farro
- 1 cup farro
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 large shallot very thinly sliced
Dressing
- â…“ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp. honey
- freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- 2 cups baby arugula lightly packed
- 1 Honeycrisp apple chopped
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped pecans toasted
Instructions
Cook Farro
- Rinse farro under cool, running water. In a medium saucepan, combine farro and water. Bring to a boil, add salt and bay leaf, then reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally, until farro is tender and all liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet to cool.
- While farro is cooling, fry the shallots. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots. When they begin to bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are golden and crisp, 15-20 minutes. Remove shallots from the oil and place on a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Season with salt. Allow the oil in the pan to cool.
Make Dressing
- Add the cooled olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and honey in a glass jar or small bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble Salad
- In a large serving bowl, combine the farro, shallots, arugula, apple, parmesan, parsley, and pecans. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat.
Notes
- Either baby or regular arugula will work for this salad.
- Any crisp apple may be used. We like Honeycrisp the best, but Granny Smiths and Galas are great, too.
- Since there’s just two of us and we know we’ll have leftovers, we don’t assemble the entire salad at once. Instead, we make individual servings, chopping apple, toasting pecans, and shaving Parmesan as we need it. That helps keep the ingredients fresh and crisp.Â