Dishing Up the Dirt

Roasted Cherry, Farro, & Arugula Salad

 

One of the wonderful things about living in a farming community is the abundance of fresh and local ingredients at our fingertips. This salad was inspired by a few trades we made at the farmers market last Thursday.  Arugula was exchanged for some local cherries while kale and collards were traded for some organic cheese.  I love the farmers markets for this reason alone!

 

We’ve had successful farmers market sales recently and despite a few really frustrating days in the fields this past weekend, things have been producing well and Tumbleweed Farm continues to amaze us every single day.

One of the things I’m really looking forward to is my first bite into a farm fresh tomato- which is only a few short weeks away! Our tomatoes are coming along fast and look healthy and happy. It’s extremely hard being patient this time of year however, I will gladly settle for eating plenty of our leafy greens and continue to incorporate them into our daily meals. It also helps when other farmers pass along some of their treasures for us to enjoy too!

 

I’m going to admit that I haven’t pitted cherries for a recipe before (I don’t bake and usually just eat them by the handful and spit the pit out.) However, for this particular recipe I was dying to give roasted cherries a try. After about 5 minutes of unsuccessfully pitting my cherries with a knife I decided to google a better method (time is precious around here and I know you guys don’t have all day to pit cherries either!) One quick google search and I was all set. If you don’t own a cherry pitter check out this awesome method.

 

This salad is such a seasonal gem that I cannot wait to make it again for my family when they come to town in a few weeks.  If cherries are popping up in your neck of the woods I recommend whipping up this salad as soon as possible. To keep this recipe vegan simply omit the cheese. However, if you can get your hands on some good quality organic cheese it adds a nice touch. Grab a fork and dig in!

Roasted Cherry, Farro & Arugula Salad

Prep Time: 15 mins.    Cook Time: 30 mins.    Serves: 4

  • 1 cup uncooked farro, rinsed
  • 4 cups cherries, pitted
  • 4 cups arugula
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup organic goat, feta, or blue cheese crumbles
For the Dressing:
  • 3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon Style mustard
  • 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
  • pinch of fine sea salt
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

  1. Cook the farro. Place one cup of farro with three cups of water in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain of any excess liquid.
  2. While farro cooks preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place pitted cherries on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until cherries release their juices and begin to caramelize. About 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
  3. Combine roasted cherries with cooked farro. Stir in arugula (it will wilt down a bit) and drizzle with dressing. Toss until everything is well combined. Serve warm.
  4. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with crumbled cheese and chopped walnuts.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary


Leave a Reply

16 thoughts on “Roasted Cherry, Farro, & Arugula Salad

  1. Jan says:

    This looks so amazing! Do you let the farro cool before adding the arugula?

    1. Andrea says:

      I add the arugula to the warm farro which wilts it down a bit! It’s really good this way!

  2. Heidi says:

    I can’t wait to try this recipe, cherry pitters are also great to use on olives (blue cheese stuffed olives are a favorite of mine).

    1. Andrea says:

      I need to invest in a cherry pitter! blue cheese stuffed olives might be a deal breaker 🙂

  3. Trading for cherries sounds like a sweet deal to me! I’m obsessed with them but they can be a little pricey, especially if they’re organic.

    I’m drooling all over the place for this salad right now. It looks like heaven on a plate!

  4. I was literally this morning just wondering how to pit the pound of cherries I have sitting on my counter. This is an AWESOME trick, and I can’t wait to use it! Thanks so much for sharing…and I love the idea of combining them with all of the pepper and bite in the arugula and the balsamic-dijon dressing. Yum!

    1. Andrea says:

      This 1 minute video changed my life 🙂

  5. No cherries for us down here in the winter, but I can imagine this farro salad would be just as delicious with some roasted winter apples or pears 🙂
    When summer does roll around again though, I will be glad to use those techniques for pitting. Any activity where you get to use a mallet can only lead to fun 🙂

  6. Pam Lewis says:

    Andrea, Your mom and dad are coming over for dinner tonight. Serving this wonderful salad. Roasted cherries, its gotta be good.

    1. Andrea says:

      Yay! My folks loved the dinner. I’m so happy you made this! And you are totally right…you can’t go wrong with roasted cherries!!! XO

  7. amy says:

    That trick is everything! Blaise is eating cherries like it’s his job and this is gonna save me from pre-eating them to get the pit out. Genius!

    1. Andrea says:

      Now little B can eat all the cherries his little hear desires! This little trick saved my life 🙂

  8. This looks delicious! I could eat cherries at every meal if I could afford it hah Can’t wait to make this one.

  9. Cherries are definitely popping up here, but I’ve never tried roasting them! I may have to sneak a few off our neighbors’ tree and try it 🙂 Not gonna lie though, that cherry pitting method looks a little too dangerous for my clumsiness and our white kitchen, eek! Your salads are gorgeous as always, lady!

  10. Carolyn says:

    Andrea, I live in Portland and I found your site through barre3 and now. I am devoted to your site. I am an omnivore but love your recipes too. This salad is awesome . However it is 88F in PDX. I always cook batches of Farro to have on hand in the refrigerator. So heat it in the microwave with the cherries for 1 min .since no way I am going to turn on a oven in this hot weather (no A/C.) Turned out great.

    PS I signed up for newsletter but never comes. But I come to your site daily.

    1. Andrea says:

      Carolyn! Thanks so much for the comment and for following the blog! I’m having issues with my newsletter getting sent out and I’m trying to resolve that with a “tech” guy! I’m horrible at that stuff! Hopefully in the next few weeks you will start receiving notifications! Thanks again for following along! XO

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