This farro salad was inspired by a trip to Portland, Oregon years ago. Portland is a great food city, and often, when visiting, I liked to stay downtown for two key reasons: proximity to Powell’s Books and meals at Clyde Common, a fantastic bar and restaurant on the ground floor of the Ace Hotel. On one trip I enjoyed a farro salad on repeat throughout my visit. It was plump whole grains plus shaved vegetables tossed with an herb-flecked buttermilk dressing. The whole thing was bright, seasonal, dynamic, and fantastically satisfying. This is the version I began making after returning home made with paper-thin slices of baby radishes, zucchini, and fennel along with the buttermilk magic to bring it all together.
Farro Salad: Inspiration
The original Clyde Common farro salad had fennel, chives, radishes, carrots, and wild arugula along with their tangy, assertive buttermilk dressing.
When to Serve it
So, this hearty farro salad is the sort of thing that might take the place of a potato or macaroni salad at a BBQ or picnic. Day-to-day it makes a great lunch salad or side dish. It’s creamy, tangy, starchy – a real crowd-pleaser. It travels well. Even fully dressed it travels well. If you have farro cooked (or another grain) on hand, this becomes a no-cook recipe.
The Buttermilk Dressing
Instead of making a more traditional buttermilk dressing here, I made a buttermilk vinaigrette of sorts. It’s tangy. Tangy enough that I normally might try to take the edge off it a bit. It’s also on the thin side. Don’t mess with it. Once it hits the starchy farro, the grains slurp it up, and everything balances out quite nicely. But use a good white-wine vinegar, one that tastes good – it will make a difference. The dressing is cream and mayo-free. And this recipe makes a good amount of it, so you’ll likely have some extra to use throughout the week. 
Farro Salad: Variations
Also, as far as variations go, there are infinite directions to take this recipe.
- Summer Farro Salad: A version of with lots of roasted cherry tomatoes, arugula, fresh basil, chives, toasted almonds, serrano chile, and either crumbled goat cheese or torn pieces of mozzarella. Have some grilled corn? Throw that in too.
- Fall Farro Salad: A version with chunks or roasted delicata squash OR roasted cauliflower, caramelized shallots, toasted walnuts, chopped olives, serrano chile.
- Super Veg Farro Salad: You can really load this salad full of more vegetables (or alternately, salad greens) than I call for. Use what you have, or what you imagine will be tasty together. Really go for it.
There are also a bunch of great variations (so many!) suggested in the comments.
More Salad Recipes
- Genius Kale Salad
- Kale and Pecorino Salad
- Shaved Fennel Salad
- Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad
- Grilled Wedge Salad
- Shredded Un-Chicken Salad
- Spicy Sesame Coleslaw
- – all the salad recipes
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