Chicken and Farro Salad With Herb Vinaigrette
One cup of farro takes about 30 minutes to simmer and yields three cups of chewy grain. It holds its texture for days in the fridge, which is why it works in a salad where rice would turn soft.
Farro is wheat in its whole grain form, so it keeps the bran and germ that give it a nutty flavor and a distinctly chewy bite. That chew is the reason it survives in a vinaigrette. Cooked rice and orzo go soft and clumpy under acid within a few hours.
Cook It Like Pasta, Not Like Rice
Farro does not need a precise water ratio. Simmer it in plenty of salted water for 25 to 30 minutes and taste a grain at the 25 minute mark, the way you would test pasta. It should be tender with a slight resistance in the center. Then drain it well.
Pearled farro cooks in about 20 minutes because the bran has been partly removed; whole farro can take 40 or benefit from an overnight soak. The package rarely tells you which you have. Check the grains: pale and smooth means pearled, darker and more rustic means whole.
Poach the Chicken Instead of Grilling It
Bringing seasoned water to a bare simmer and sliding chicken breasts in for 14 minutes gives you evenly cooked meat with no crust and no dry edges. Grilling gives more flavor but a much smaller window between raw and dry. For a cold salad, gentle poaching wins on texture every time.
The Temperature Rule for Grain Salads
Toss farro with vinaigrette while it is still warm and the grain drinks it in. Add chicken and any fresh herbs once everything has cooled to room temperature. Dressing hot chicken firms the surface and makes it taste dry, which is the opposite of what a salad should do.
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 lb
- 4 cups water or chicken stock, plus more for poaching
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 small shallot, finely minced
- 1 cup halved grapes or dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
- 2 cups arugula
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley, dill, and chives
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper
Steps
Simmer the farro until chewy
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the farro, and simmer 25 to 30 minutes. Taste at 25 minutes; it should be tender with a slight chew. Drain well in a strainer.
Poach the chicken gently
Bring a wide skillet of seasoned water to a bare simmer, add the chicken, and cover. Cook 13 to 15 minutes until the center reads 160 degrees F, then rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Whisk the shallot vinaigrette
Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, shallot, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Let the shallot sit in the acid for 5 minutes; it takes the raw bite out of it.
Dress the farro warm
Add the drained farro to the bowl while still warm and toss well. This is when the grain takes on the vinaigrette rather than shedding it later.
Cool, then add the chicken
Let the dressed farro cool for 10 minutes, then fold in the sliced chicken, grapes, walnuts, and herbs. Toss gently so the chicken stays in pieces.
Fold in arugula just before serving
Add the arugula last and turn it through once or twice. Any earlier and the acid in the dressing will wilt it into a dark paste.
Building This Into a Lunch Rotation
- Cook a double batch of farro on Sunday. It keeps five days in the fridge and reheats in 60 seconds with a splash of water.
- Rotisserie chicken is a fair shortcut here; add it cold and skip the poaching entirely.
- Barley and wheat berries both substitute well on the same timing, though barley turns softer by day two.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 465 kcal |
| Protein | 34 g |
| Carbohydrates | 44 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Sodium | 560 mg |
