Friday, October 17, 2014

Wild Rice and Farro Salad Bowl



I love the notion of eating my lunch out of a bowl. Especially when I am by my lonesome self. What's better than a perfectly composed plate of greens. A work of art piled high. Well that's how this one looks as I have the time and pleasure to work on the aesthetics. it looks like something Asian. and that takes me to my chopsticks. I am one in my family who will unearth chopsticks when I make Asian food. The rest of them plop their noodles and meat on their plates, while I do the same in a bowl. And then I set to the task of lift and drop! Albeit I eat my meal slower but I relish every single morsel that I can successfully eat without dropping. It really is an learned process, finishing a meal with chopsticks!! I watch people in Asian restaurants surreptitiously as they do that elegant chopstick shuffle with small titbit's of fried fish, huge spring rolls and sometimes rotis or flat breads!!! I think it must be a genetic thing as I clumsily fish for a morsel.

My bowl fascination transverses many cuisines. Right now the craze for ramen runs rampant. Simplified, it is noodle soup in a wide bowl with veggies added in.  But my taste buds yearn for some thing chewy and healthy.  I boil some wild rice and farro. The last of the heirloom tomatoes beg to be used. A huge avocado that's been in the fridge for a while is sliced and diced. I made a quick dressing with soy sauce and Sriracha. I start layering with greens. I scatter spoonfuls of wild rice and farro over greens. The grains are topped with sliced tomatoes, red onion and avocado. A drizzle of dressing finishes the bowl. No chopsticks here. Only forks needed.


WILD RICE AND FARRO SALAD BOWL
Serves 2

1/2 cup Wild Rice
1/2 cup Farro
1 cup packaged prewashed Mesclun Lettuce
1 Haas Avocado
1 Tomato
2 tablespoons sliced Red Onion
4 tablespoons low sodium Soy sauce
2 big squirts Sriracha (1 tablespoon!) [less if you don't care for spice]
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 Lime


Put wild rice in a saucepan and add 3 cups water. Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain rice and put back into saucepan. Cover with a lid and let rice sit for 10 minutes. Fluff and keep aside.

Put farro into another saucepan and add 1 cup water. Bring to boil. Cover and turn flame to low and cook for 8 minutes. Cool and keep aside.

Whisk soy sauce, olive oil, Sriracha and lime juice till thickened. 

Cut avocado and tomato into small chunks.

Assemble by placing half the lettuce in a bowl.

Top lettuce with half the wild rice. 

Scatter half the farro over wild rice.

Arrange half the avocado, tomato chunks and sliced onion on grains.

Drizzle half the dressing on the salad.

Repeat for the second bowl.

It's best eaten at room temperature!! With a fork!!


And it is with a fork that I enjoy this slightly chewy, a tad salty, a bit spicy and altogether wholesome salad with gusto! Buttery avocado and chunks of heirlooms give me such pleasing textures. I am delighted with my healthy concoction. Methinks this salad makes my belly 'ingrained' to the good stuff!







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