Farro Salad With Chanterelles, Fennel and Apples

Farro salad with chanterelles, fennel, apples and parmesan

This is my second take on chanterelles and farro. The first one was a hot entree, with sauteed apples. Today's variation is a salad, with shaved apples, fennel, and parmesan. The first dish used an apple "balsamic" vinegar to make an emulsified butter sauce. For the salad, I used the same vinegar to make a vinaigrette.

It was kind of fun to spin the same ingredients in two ways that were closely related, but that would fill different roles in a meal. This salad could either lead off a dinner, or just as easily be a light lunch by itself.

Also, it has been on my mind to use more whole grains. I think they work best when you don't just try to use them as a substitute for refined starches. Whole grains tend to have a nuttier, heartier and chewier aspect than their white counterparts. If you take that character into account when pairing them with other ingredients, they can be stars on their own, not apologetic replacements when on a health kick. These two dishes are a good example: they would be unappealing with, say, white rice instead of the farro.

Farro Salad With Chanterelles, Fennel and Apples
Serves 4
Vegetarian; vegan if you omit the parmesan; not gluten-free

• 1 cups farro (whole or semi-pearled)
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 generous handfuls chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned, dried, and quartered if large
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 apple (Kings are nice), peeled and shaved on mandoline or sliced as thin as possible, tossed immediately with the lemon juice to prevent browning
• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed and shaved on mandoline or sliced as thin as possible (round bulbs are tastier than flat ones)
• 16 thinly shaved slices of parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
• 2 tablespoons Acetoria apple vinegar (or 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons sugar)
• fresh parsley leaves
• sea salt (Maldon!)

1. Rinse and boil the farro according to package directions. If no directions, bring to a simmer in a covered pot with the water and Kosher salt, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 45 minutes until tender. If the farro is semi-pearled, it may cook a lot faster than that. Don't let it get mushy, we want a bit of a bite left. Cool to room temperature
2. Heat a skillet on medium high flame. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Saute the mushrooms, turning occasionally until nicely browned and tender. Season with sea salt and remove from the pan.
3. Season the apple vinegar with salt and pepper. Drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, whisking continuously to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. To serve, mound 1/2 cup of farro on each plate. Top with a handful of the sliced apples and fennel. Drizzle on some of the dressing. Top with 4 slices of parmesan, 1/4 of the chanterelles, and some parsley. Drizzle remaining dressing around the plate, and hit with a few grains of a finishing salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Peeled Cherry Tomato Salad With Pan Fried Goat Cheese

Peeled cherry tomatoes are the star of this show

Ever since I read Shuna's post about peeling cherry tomatoes, the idea has been lodged in my mind, like a song you just have to sing to forget. Ok, specifically, it was this line:

"Tomato skin is like pantyhose. Sheer, almost transparent, and yet truly in the way of what you really want."

It takes a certain amount of talent to make cherry tomatoes sound ribald! But she's absolutely right. The effort is totally worth it and not really that hard for small quantities. The technique Shuna explains works beautifully - small X in the bottom with a very sharp knife, dip for 5 seconds in boiling water, ice bath, peel.

The difference really is amazing. Tomato is skin is notoriously tough, which is why most folks use a serrated knife to saw through it, rather than the cleaving motion of a straight edge. A plain knife has to be a scalpel to do a good job, and it will get dull in no time.

Your mouth is in the same predicament. By the time your teeth apply enough blunt force to burst the fruit, you are confronted with all juice and you don't really experience that tender flesh. (Is it getting warm in here?)

For my first try at a dish highlighting these little beauties, I warmed them in my favorite fruity olive oil (Frantoia), tossed with thyme leaves, Maldon salt and pepper, and served them on a bed of thinly sliced radishes. They shared the plate with a simple pan-fried goat cheese, reminiscent of a dish we used to make at Cafe Flora. For this simplified version, I just flattened the cheese into a patty, pressed it in fine cornmeal, and pan-fried on both sides until golden brown. A few drops of precious balsamico tradizionale and let's eat.

If you are willing to go outside the locavore zone, the traveling heirloom cherry tomatoes are quite decent - much better than their full size cousins though of course nothing like what you'll get at the farmer's market in the fullness of the season. Which in Seattle is about a week and a half, so you'll have to forgive me.

I thought this dish worked out well, but there are lots of other ways to play. The peeled tomatoes would be amazing tossed with toasted cubes of rustic bread, or with fresh mozzarella (better yet, burrata). Or garnishing a chilled tomato soup. Or with polenta. What about in a tart, is that overkill? Tomatoes and fresh grapes don't normally go together, but if you peeled them both, is there some way they could hang out? Or or or....

Healthy Thai-Style Salad of Grilled Eggplant, Tofu, and Watermelon - Recipe

I'm calling this a Thai-style salad, but it could just as easily be Vietnamese or Cambodian. It was ultra-refreshing, and because the dressing is oil-free, very low calorie as well. This kind of salad can work either as part of a larger Southeast Asian spread, or by itself as a light meal.

I've seen watermelon used in all sorts of interesting savory dishes lately. Compressed, juiced, pickled, "sashimi", grilled. You name it, folks are realizing it has applications way beyond a big chunk dribbling juice down your chin on a summer day (or filled with vodka, but that's another story). In this salad, it provides a beautiful sweet counterpoint to the puckery lime dressing and fresh herbs.

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Like many of the salads I've published, you can think of this this dish more as a basis for improvisation than necessarily a formula to follow. Change the lettuce, use tempeh instead of tofu, add rice noodles, use different herbs, add roasted peanuts ... mix it up with what you have on hand or what looks good at the market and you can eat this way frequently without getting bored.

I grilled both the tofu and the eggplant, which contributes a bit of smoky flavor, but you can of course do them in a frying pan or in the oven just as well. By the way, Ben at Accidental Hedonist had a great background article on tofu recently.

Thai-Style Salad of Grilled Eggplant, Tofu, and Watermelon
Serves 8 as a side dish or about 3 as a light meal
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free

For the lime dressing:

• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• salt to taste
• several grinds of black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients and allow to rest.
2. Adjust seasoning just before serving.

For the salad:

• 3 small eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/2" planks
• 1 container of extra-firm tofu (14-16 ounces) sliced into 8 planks
• soy sauce
• oil for grilling
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe's mandarin orange muscat champagne vinegar (great stuff!) or: juice of one orange, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped medium, washed and thoroughly dried
• optional: 1 cup mixed microgreens (Trader Joe's sells a nice package, surprisingly), or other flavorful greens - arugula for example
• 1/2 red onion, sliced about 1/8" thick
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• jalapeno, serrano, or other chilis to taste, seeded and sliced thin
• 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon
• large handful each of fresh mint, fresh basil (preferably Thai basil), cilantro
• 4 green onions, white parts only, thinly sliced
• sea salt

1. Preheat a grill to a moderate temperature with no leaping flames.
2. Marinate the tofu in a bit of soy sauce.
3. Lightly oil the eggplant on both sides and rub in a bit of salt. Grill on both sides until tender, being careful not to burn. When you take it off, allow to cool slightly, cut into bite sized chunks, and toss while still warm with the orange vinegar.
4. Lightly oil the tofu and grill on both sides until nice marks develop. Slice each plank into three bites.
5. To serve, arrange the bed of lettuce with all other ingredients scattered on top - either on a family sized platter or individual salad plates. Drizzle the dressing evenly over the top and finish with a bit of sea salt.