A few days ago, Lauren, Jeremy and I spent the day in downtown Chicago, looking at possible wedding venues. Among our adventures, we ended up at the restaurant, "The Kitchen", rather then the venue by the same name. We did enjoy some lovely drinks at the restaurant, even though we were not where we were supposed to be.
Parking a car in most large cities is very expensive; we discovered that we could have 3 hours of parking for $15, as long as we brought a receipt back from a nearby shop or restaurant. After looking at venues, we arrived back near the parking garage, at Chef Mario Batali's Italian market/store/restaurant, known as "Eataly", to grab some lunch in order to get the cheap parking fare. If you ever find yourself in Chicago, please include a visit to this amazing place: www.eataly.com. Be sure to arrive hungry and thirsty, and bring along extra carrying bags for all the items you will want to take along home. After much discussion, Jeremy, Lauren and I settled on several shared dishes: an Italian meat and cheese platter, a simple arugula salad, and a corn/farro salad. I loved the farro salad so much that I promptly recreated my own version when I got back home.
Farro is a wheat grain, common in Italy. It is a larger grain, and when cooked, has a nutty flavor and a slightly crunchy texture. In recipes, barley and farro are easily interchanged, since they have similar qualities. Farro is the perfect base for a grain salad; it is also a lovely addition to soups. It pairs beautifully with grilled corn and black beans in my salad. The freshness from the lime zest and juice gives this dish such brightness, and I personally have never experienced such a thing as, "too much cilantro." Feel free to customize this salad to your heart's content.
Farro/Roasted Corn Salad with Lime Cilantro Dressing
1 1/2 c. uncooked farro
5-6 ears corn on the cob
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 fresh jalapeño, finely minced
4 scallions, finely chopped, including green tops
1 large bunch of cilantro
2 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 c. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
In a medium sized saucepan, stir the farro in 5 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt; bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the cooked farro in a sieve, place in a bowl and allow to come to room temperature.
Husk the corn, cleaning all the silks off the ears. Grill for several minutes on all sides, rotating frequently to allow slight charring of the kernels. Slice kernels from the ears, scraping the cobs to include any corn milk. You could also cook the ears of corn in a pot of water, instead of grilling them, or if you are truly desperate, substitute frozen corn kernels or canned corn.
Chop half of the bunch of cilantro, all the scallions and the jalapeño. Zest the two limes and then juice them (should have about 1/4 c. juice). In a large bowl combine the farro, corn, black beans, chopped cilantro, scallions, jalapeño, and lime zest; stir to combine.
To prepare the dressing: place the other 1/2 of the bunch of cilantro into the food processor, along with 1 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper. Pulse for a few seconds. With the processor on , stream in the lime juice and olive oil to create a fragrant, green dressing. Pour this over the salad. Adjust seasonings according to your taste. I added more salt and pepper to the salad. Serve at room temperature. Make about 8 servings. Keeps fine overnight in the refrigerator.
