Greek Farro Village Salad

The Greek Farro Village Salad is a delicious hearty twist on one of my favorite salads. I love a village salad. Back in my young teacher days, I worked nights as a waitress. While working in a Greek restaurant, one of my favorite items was the village salad. It is a simple salad with cucumber, tomato, feta and dill with a tangy dressing. My favorite way to enjoy the village salad is with a piece of fish it is perfect for summer.

In the colder months, I like to have a heartier salad. Adding nutty Farro and a crisp winter lettuce turns this light summer salad into a hearty and healthy colder months meal. This heartier version has all of the ease of the traditional salad with even more nutritious aspects.

Farro is a Whole Grain

Whole grains are an important element of the Mediterranean Diet. Cooking whole grains, versus pearled, will increase the cooking time. My simple workaround, each weekend I pick one grain to utilize in several recipes for the rest of the week. Whenever Farro is my grain, the Greek Farro Village Salad is on menu.

Four helpful hints to raise the “wow factor” of this salad:

1. Select genuine Feta. Real feta is made of at least 70 percent sheep’s milk and no more than 30 percent goat’s milk. Cow’s milk is not real feta. Genuine feta is creamy and briny and is important to the balance of the Greek Farro Village Salad.
2. Use fresh dill. It is a lovely addition this salad, while dried dill can be used go for fresh if available.
3. Use quality red wine vinegar. Lambrusco red wine vinegar is my go-to. I purchase it from a company called the Olive Tap. During the pandemic, the company was on limited quantities and I tried several other brands. There was just no comparison. Now I purchase it by the case to ensure we never run out. Even my sweetheart commented on the difference with other types of red wine vinegar.
4. Store the salad without dressing. This meal is perfect to have for dinner and put in individual containers for lunches in the refrigerator. Pour the dressing 10-15 minutes on before serving. The salad will keep up to 3 days.

This simple meal of a salad will become one of your go-to dishes. Let me know how you like it. For other recipes featuring whole grains visit whole grains at Olive Sunshine! #OliveSunshine