This is not exactly a normal salad, but it also started out as one thing and then it morphed into something else as I was making it…
Ok ok ok. Truth be told, I didn’t have a clear vision of what I was making when I started, I just figured I’d find things in the fridge and make it work. I knew I had enough cheese, nuts and whatnot to make a good salad happen, I just hadn’t yet gotten to the editing phase of the process when I started (which is not necessarily unusual for me, but can sometimes be problematic).
It still follows my grain & green bowl formula, but the combo is unique enough that I’m confident in saying it’s probably never been done before?
It’s a little bit like if a wedge salad and a waldorf salad had a baby…and then got adopted by a kale and grain hippie bowl.
Then I served it with roasted potato “fries” on the side.
Let’s just talk about it!
The base was a typical kale and farro blend massaged with a champagne vinaigrette dressing.
- 2 bunches of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups farro
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp champagne vinegar
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- fresh pepper (to taste)
First, make the farro using a 2:1 ratio of water to grain and cook until soft and chewy.
Next prep the kale and dressing and massage them together in a large serving bowl. Add the farro and you have your salad base!
Toppings time!
- walnuts
- bleu cheese
- pear slices
- fried onions
If you don’t like bleu cheese (like me!) then you can sub for chevre. I can vouch that it tastes wonderful this way.
I had leftover fried onions from a green bean casserole that I haven’t shown yet, but you could fry your own if you don’t have them.
In case you have half a jar from your holiday season as well, here’s a little tip: I have been keeping the opened container in the freezer so they stay fresh and crispy. Nobody wants the leftover portion to get stale! Although to be fair, my kids love them so much that they would happily eat them as a snack on their own all day long.
