Caprese For Farro

“I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”—Jamie Oliver

Well put Jamie.  I like it.  I'm trying to do my part by sharing easy recipes for people who don't think they can cook, don't think they have time to cook or don't know how to cook.  Processed foods are making us fat and unhealthy.  We can stop.  We may not be able to cure cancer from our own home, but we can cure obesity.  So, lets make something real and tasty!  I haven't made farro in a while and thought it would be the perfect accompaniment to a nice grilled steak.  I posted a recipe last summer for a farro salad with herbs.  This one has some similarities but I made this one up based on my kids' love for Caprese (pronounced  cah-PREHY-zay) Salad.  If you are unfamiliar with this, think nice slice of tomato topped with a slice of fresh mozzarella, topped with fresh basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  My mouth just watered.  So here we go....

Take one cup of farro and cook it in salted water for about 30 min.  Drain well and set aside to cool.

Get one cup of fresh basil leaves and chop them up.

Chop 1/2 teaspoon of fresh oregano.  I'm sure this would be just fine if you left it out.  I have oregano in a flower box that grows year round.  It's lovely to have around and takes no effort what so ever.

I'm really into chives right now too.  Chop 1 tablespoon of chives.

Put the chopped herbs in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil.  Add 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Throw in some fresh cracked pepper for good measure.

Chop about a pound of tomatoes, this was three mediumish sized tomatoes.

Toss them in the bowl with the cooled farro.

Chop an 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella (all 8oz does not make it into my salad, can't help myself.  It's one of my favorites).

Add it to the bowl with the dressing and you're done!  This is best served room temp but if its been refrigerated and you can wait that long.  No worries, tastes good cold too!

Caprese for Farro

1 cup farro
1 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 tsp fresh oregano chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 pound tomatoes chopped
1 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella chopped

Put 1cup farro in a medium pot with 2 1/2 cups of salted water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to a simmer (med-low), cover and let cook until tender, about 30 min.  Drain well and place in a bowl to cool.

In a small bowl add herbs, olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.

Add tomatoes and cheese to the cooled farro.  Add the dressing and mix well.  Serve right away or refrigerate and bring to room temp before serving.

You Say You Want a Resolution

Here we are, at the end of another year.  I've been enjoying the past month or so getting ready for holiday festivities, making a few gifts for people, watching the snow build up,

and hanging out with my crazy family.  Get a load of these guys!  Tonight we'll ring in the New Year with Nels and the kids and my dear friend Jill and her friend that came into town for the weekend. We'll have a nice dinner of steaks on the grill (once we shovel a path to it!) and a fabulous shrimp and pasta dish that I must share. 

But first lets discuss this whole resolution thing.  I wonder how many people actually follow through with their resolutions.  I personally don't think I know anyone who has.  Unless you count the fact that about 20 years ago a friend and I resolved to never make another resolution and that one I have continued to keep.  It seems like a good idea and all, but they never seem all that realistic.  I read a stat that said by January 7 a third of people will have broken their resolution, by Valentine's Day half will have lapsed and by 4th of July,  60% will have been forgotten (Norcross, Ratzin & Payne 1989).  So, why do we bother?  Obviously we have things about ourselves that we want to change, so how about doing so in a way that won't set us up to fail.  Let's not vow to exercise everyday when we haven't done it at all in three years.  Let's not start a crazy restrictive diet that we can't survive on for more than a week.  Let's not run out and join a gym and only go once or twice ever.  Instead let's plan to always take the stairs, to go for a walk a few times a week, to cook real food at home and involve our families in gradual change towards a healthy lifestyle.  I think we can all handle that. 

OK, now let's get to that shrimp recipe I think you need to have in your arsenal.  I was supposed to make this on Christmas day but we had too much food already.  Grilled Shrimp with Oregano and Lemon is from the Food & Wine website (which I LOVE).  I made this the other day but roasted the shrimp instead (again, there's alot of snow on the grill). 

Toss the shrimp with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Either grill on metal skewers or pop it in a 375 oven for 4 min on each side or until cooked through.

Toss with the easy to make sauce or as we will try tonight, cook a pound of linguine or spaghetti and place shrimp over the pasta and drizzle the sauce over it and gently toss.  My mouth is totally watering right now.

Grilled Shrimp with Oregano and Lemon

1/2 cup (1 jar) salted capers, drained, rinsed and soaked for 1 hour, then drained
1/2 cup fresh oregano leaves
1 (or 2!) garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 TBS fresh squeezed lemon zest
Fresh ground pepper
2 1/2 lbs large shrimp, shelled and deveined
salt

Finely chop the drained capers with the oregano leaves and garlic.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/2 cup plus 2 TBS olive oil along with lemon zest and juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  (This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, let come to room temp before serving).

Toss the shrimp in remaining 2 TBS olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Thread on to skewers and grill over high heat turning once (about 3 min per side or until cooked through). Or, place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast on 375 about 4 min per side until cooked through. Remove shrimp to a platter, spoon sauce over the top and serve.

When I made this the other day I only used about half of the sauce (my shrimp were on the small side).  I used the remaining sauce as a dressing on mixed baby greens for my dinner guests the next night, delicious!

Will Farro?

It's Memorial Day weekend and chances are you've been invited to a BBQ or two.  You might need to bring a dish to pass so I thought I'd share a really good salad that I tried this week.  I'm actually going three events and am making a different salad for each.  I'll be bringing this Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Herbs to my Mom's house on Sunday.  I had never had farro before this week and had found a recipe on Food Network's website but the exact same recipe appeared on the back of the package!

If you are unfamiliar with farro, it is a grain.  It's super easy to prepare and is an excellent source of fiber, protein and iron.  My mom was not impressed with this description but upon (reluctantly) giving it a taste, she gave me the go ahead to bring it to her affair.

You cook the farro according to directions, very easy.  Boil in salted water basically.  Then you drain it well and transfer to a bowl.

Add tomatoes, onion, chives and parsley and toss to combine.

Then you whip up a little dressing of garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Again, nothing tricky going on here.

Add the dressing and toss.  Serve at room temperature.  This can be made ahead and refrigerated but should be served at room temp.  There, that was a snap and I bet someone else won't show up with the exact same salad!

Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Herbs (various sources)

4 cups water
12 oz farro
2 tsp salt
1 lb tomatoes chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped (walla walla)
1/4 cup diced chives
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 large clove of garlic minced
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine water and farro in a medium saucepan with 2 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to medium-low and and cover, simmer until the farro is tender  about 15-20 min.  Drain well and transfer to a large bowl and cover.  Add the tomatoes, onion, chives and parsley to the farro and toss to combine.  In a medium bowl whisk together garlic, vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Add the vinaigrette to the salad and toss again.  Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy the weekend!

Dish To Pass

Summer is on the horizon and inevitably there will be events in which a dish to pass will be required.  I, admittedly, am not so adept at pasta salad.  I can whip one up but they usually bore me.  Some people are just better at it than others I've decided.  Maybe I'm missing the pasta salad gene.  Guess what, I don't care because last night I tried a new (non pasta) salad that is a perfect dish to pass.  So, I thought I'd share.  As usual, it came out of my Food TV Magazine.  It's called Lemon-Herb Rice Salad.  Now, there is only one thing I didn't love and that was the use of mint.  Many recipes call for mint and I stay away from them.  I just don't care for it.  I was brave though and I made it as directed.  Next time, I'm leaving out the mint.  You do whatever makes you happy.

While you cook up two cups of long-grain white rice as directed on the bag, you put a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and a large piece of lemon rind on the stove over medium heat.  You're making lemon oil! Cool, right?   It takes about 5 min then let it cool.

While that's working you slice up some red onion and make a dressing of lemon juice, rice vinegar, light brown sugar, salt and pepper.  Then add the lemon oil and whisk it together.  You let the onions marinate in the dressing for 15 min (just about enough time to cool the rice to room temp).

While things are marinating and cooling and such, you can chop up some cucumber, shred a carrot,  and roughly chop some fresh basil, cilantro and mint.  Also a good time to wash off your greens if needed.  The recipe calls for watercress but we used some baby lettuce mix that we had on hand. 

Then you toss it all together with the dressing and wa-la!  A really great summer salad.  This will go perfectly with any cookout menu.

Lemon-Herb Rice Salad Food TV Magazine

2 lemons
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups long-grain white rice
2 Tbs rice vinegar
2 tsp packed light brown sugar
salt and pepper
1/2 med red onion, thinly sliced
1 med carrot, shredded
1 Kirby cucumber (I used 1/2 a regular cucumber), seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts (just realized mine were whole-oops)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 bunch of watercress, tough stems removed, leaves torn (any baby lettuce will work if you cant find watercress).

Remove 2 wide strips of zest from 1 lemon with a vegetable peeler.  Combine 1 strip with the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the edges of the zest turn slightly golden, about 5 min.  Let lemon oil cool.

Meanwhile, cook the rice as label directs, adding the other strip of zest to the water.  Transfer cooked rice to a large bowl, discarding zest, and fluff with a fork.  Let cool to room temp.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: Juice both lemons into a med bowl.  Add the vinegar, brown sugar, 1 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and whisk until the sugar dissolves.  Discard zest from lemon oil, then whisk oil into the dressing.  Add onion slices and let marinate 15 min.

Add carrot, cucumber, peanuts, cilantro, mint, basil and watercress to the bowl of rice.  Add the dressing mixture and gently toss.

We had it along side some grilled steak and steamed broccoli.  This recipe is going to get some serious use this summer, I hope you like it as much as I do!