Rich nutty-tasting whole grain farro and sweet fresh cherries, this cherry and farro salad is loaded with vibrant flavor and pleasing chewy texture. Enhanced with cool herbal mint, green onions, tart dried cherries and a bright lemony dressing, this salad is summer picnic-worthy!
This recipe also teaches you how to pressure cook farroโso you can enjoy your salad a whole lot quicker!
I truly love cherries! And Robbie loves the tender farro nuggets. This unusual salad surprised us both. With every component adding a different flavor note, we kept singing farro and cherry salad praise.
Click here to PIN Farro and Cherry Salad recipe.
Cherry and Farro Salad details.
- So it’s ready when it was time to make the salad, cook your farro the day before.
- This time of year, my treasured cherry pitter (affiliate link) seesย heavy use. If you love cherries and dislike pitting cherries one by one, it’s aย worthwhile buyโand not crazy expensive. Or go with a hand-held cherry and olive pitter, like this one.
- Inspiration for this recipe comes from Fruited Grain Salad in Mollie Katzenโs Still Life with Menu cookbook. (Affiliate link.)
- More tasty farro recipes: Summer Harvest Salad with Chickpeas and Farro. And Farro and Hearty Greens Soup.
Pressure-Cooked Farro:
- Cooking times depend on which farro you use. To pressure cook pearled farro or whole grain farro, cut the time by half to 2/3. Check the texture–if the grains aren’t soft, cook some more.
What is farro?
Farro is the Italian word for ancient hulled wheat. It’s most commonly sold as pearled farro, which means the nutritious husk has been shaved down or โpearledโ so that the grain is easier to cook. The pearling process removes the germ and bran from the berry, meaning that much of its nutritional value, trace minerals. fiber and high protein content is lost.
Although it takes longer to cook, I prefer to use whole grain Emmer farro. Or course, I use my pressure cooker, which cuts the cooking time in half.
When I don’t find whole grain Emmer farro in the natural food stores, I order it online. Search for emmer farro wheat berries. The best price is Bluebird Grain Farms organic farro from Amazon. (Affiliate link.) Hayden Flour Mills sells Emmer farro berries direct, as does Bluebird Grain Farms and several other smaller farms. Check to be sure it’s whole grain and not pearled farro.
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In 2016, I also shared this recipe on Pressure Cooking Today.
Cherry and Farro Salad and How to Pressure Cook Farro
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw whole grain farro
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ยผ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ยฝ cup dried cherries , coarsely chopped
- ยผ cup finely minced chives or green onions
- 8 or 10 mint leaves , minced
- 2 cups fresh sweet cherries , pitted and cut in half
Instructions
- Rinse farro. Put in the pressure cooker pot with 3 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt. Follow the directions on the package and reduce the cooking time by 2/3 to 1/2 of the said cooking time. Release the pressure naturally. The grain should be plump and tender, but chewy.
- Drain the farro. (If you wish, save the extra liquid for soup stock.) Put the cooked farro in a bowl. Stir in vinegar, lemon juice, oil, salt, dried cherries, chives and mint. Refrigerate until cold. At this point, the seasoned farro will keep up to 3 days.
- Just before serving, stir in fresh cherries.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made.
Wow! This looks incredible! I love that you added charrs for tartness! Ive been thinking of getting a pressure cooker for a while, I think this recipe may have just broken me! · 20 June, 2016
Thanks Lucie,
I hear you–I’m not sure how I could live without a pressure cooker. I even take one when we travel in the car on vacation! · 20 June, 2016
Cherries are brilliant in savory salads and such. GREG · 26 June, 2016