Name: Farro Salad with Tart Cherries
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups dry pearled farro; 15-ounce can Oregon Fruit tart cherries; 2 tablespoons Dijon or stone-ground mustard; 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 medium shallot; 1 tart apple; 3 cups baby arugula; 1/2 to 3/4 cup feta cheese crumbles (goat cheese would also work); 1 teaspoon kosher salt; Fresh ground pepper

This versatile farro salad features tart cherries, arugula, apples, and feta cheese; it works as a side dish or a main dish grain bowl.

This post was created in partnership with Oregon Fruit. All opinions are our own.

Pretty simple is mantra around here. Alex and I like to say that cooking healthy is not easy, but it can be pretty simple once you change your lifestyle. A great thing about pretty simple cooking it also can be 1. pretty delicious and 2. pretty. Believing this mantra wasn’t always the case for us, Over the years, learning through trial and error has helped us understand what makes a recipe simple to put together–and that simple doesn’t always mean quick! Experience in the kitchen has helped me surround myself with simple recipes that maximize flavor and minimize headaches. That’s the case with this farro salad with feta, arugula and cherries.

Want another arugula salad? Try this Easy Arugula Salad or our Arugula Beet Salad.

How to make farro salad

This farro salad with tart cherries takes about 25 minutes to put together. But it’s a pretty simple concept. Simply boil a whole grain until tender, like farro, quinoa for gluten-free. We like using farro because it has the chewiness of barley, but cooks in just 20 minutes. Make sure to use pearled farro for this recipe, which ensures the quick cooking time.

To the farro, add apple, arugula and tart cherries. Sprinkle a bit of feta cheese for a savory saltiness, and then cover the entire farro salad in a tart cherry vinaigrette. With the red and the green, it’s visually stunning, and it tastes incredible: tangy, tart, sweet, and savory all at once. Another great thing is that though it features lots of fresh ingredients: apples, arugula and cherries, it can be eaten year round since many of these ingredients are available throughout the year. However, it’s a perfect fall salad or winter salad.

Tip: If you like this recipe, you also might enjoy our Farro with Mushrooms & Parmesan! It turns farro into a filling main dish or bowl meal.

Using canned tart cherries

Typically Alex and I don’t think of using fruit in cans. However, we’ve been introduced to Oregon Fruit canned fruit, which we used for this recipe. Canned fruit is an easy way to incorporate the flavor and nutrients of fresh fruit; it’s available nationwide and year round. Oregon Fruit is packed in the USA during the summer for maximum ripeness and flavor. Some other great features: it’s non-GMO and there’s no High Fructose Corn Syrup or BPA in the cans. Here we’ve used canned tart cherries, which bring a sweet-tart flair to the salad. I’m a huge fan of tart flavor (my favorite drinks: margaritas or sour beer), so this one hits it out of the park for me.

How to serve this farro salad

Versatility is another thing we love about this recipe. You can use it as a side dish at a holiday meal; it would look lovely piled onto a large a platter. Or, turn it into a main dish as a grain bowl! Simply mound a larger quantity into a bowl and serve it with avocado toast or crackers as a filling lunch or weeknight meal. It can be served warm, room temperature, or cold, which makes it endlessly versatile.

And finding recipes that work for many occasions is part of that pretty simple approach to the kitchen! We hope you’ll find this farro salad hits all those elements for you–an uncomplicated concept for many occasions that looks pretty and tastes pretty delicious.

More cherry recipes

Tart cherries are a crowd favorite every time! Besides this farro salad with tart cherries and feta, here are a few of our favorite tart cherry recipes:

This farro salad recipe is…

Vegetarian and naturally sweet. For gluten-free, substitute quinoa.