Springtime Farro Salad with Burrata! This simple spring salad is bursting with fresh flavors from seasonal vegetables to a zesty vinaigrette. Creamy burrata elevates it to a salad worth serving to company.
Hi there! How was your Easter/Passover? Ours was lovely. I don't think I've gotten around to catching you up on outside-of-the-kitchen life lately, so I might have failed to mention the tiny {life-changing} detail that my in-laws recently moved up to our area. As in, they now live 5 minutes away. So for the first time in a very long time, we got to spend the holiday celebrating with both of our families just minutes from our home, and it was everything I ever dreamed it would be. No driving long distances or having to split up the day between families. No packing up a tired kid and restless dog and getting back home super late. Heavenly.
As is the case at most family gatherings, we ate and talked and talked and ate... and I feel like all that eating has caught up to me because I spent most of Monday in sloth mode, which is not an ideal mode to be in at all when you've got a little one who is still "hopped up" on all the Easter excitement and a ton of work to catch up on. But I digress.
While I've enjoyed having leftovers in our refrigerator the past couple of days, I've also been craving more veggies to balance out the heavy holiday eating. And this time of year? It's the perfect time to capitalize on all those fresh springtime eats.
One of the best ways to enjoy as many spring veggies as possible is to put them in a salad. But salads sometimes have a way of making you feel like you're grazing on nothing very substantial. I also find that sometimes I'm not in the mood for a plate of raw veggies and I'm craving something with a little more depth of flavor.
Enter Springtime Farro Salad with Burrata.
This is not your run-of-the-mill bowl of raw greens. No, sir. It's got all the things you need to satisfy a craving for veggies and a hankering for flavor:
- Earthy, roasted asparagus.
- Sweet, caramelized tomatoes.
- Toothsome, filling farro.
- Fresh, leafy arugula.
- Zesty vinaigrette.
- And my favorite part... the part that eases you back into veggie-filled eats without completely taking away some of those holiday indulgences: luscious, creamy burrata. {Have you ever had it before? It's fresh mozzarella cheese filled with a soft, rich center. I die.}
Now that's my kind of salad.
Roasting the veggies gives them another layer of flavor and texture that is really enjoyable mixed in with the chewiness of the farro and the crispness of the fresh arugula. The vinaigrette really brings it all together and gives it a nice burst of acidity and brightness.
The best part is, you can add in or swap out the veggies I used for your favorites, or even replace the farro with quinoa or pasta and I think it would still be just as good.
Springtime salads don't have to mean a bowl of plain, raw greens! Scoop up all the best things nature has to offer during this time of year and make this bowl of goodness!
Springtime Farro Salad with Burrata
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cups halved grape tomatoes or quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup uncooked farro
- 2 cups water or stock of your choice
- ½ teaspoon salt {omit if using a salted stock}
- 1 ½ cups arugula*
For Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- ½ teaspoon herbs de Provence {or use your favorite dried herb or blend}
- Pinch of fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 small ball of burrata cut into small piece
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a large baking pan by lining with foil.
- Toss the asparagus and tomatoes with olive oil until well coated. Roast for about 12-15 minutes or until the asparagus is tender and the tomatoes begin to soften and brown in spots. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, make farro: In a small pot, bring the farro, water or stock and salt {if using} to a boil over high heat, cover with a lid, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the farro is tender, then remove from heat and allow to sit for another 5 minutes. Drain any of the remaining liquid. Set aside.
- Make vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, Dijuon mustard, minced shallot, herbs de Provence and black pepper until emulsified.
- To assemble: In a large serving bowl, toss together the roasted vegetables, cooked farro, and arugula to combine. Drizzled the vinaigrette over the top adding as much or as little as you'd like to fully coat the mixture.
- Before serving, mix in the chopped burrata or plate the salad and top with pieces of burrata if preferred. Can be served warm or cold.
