A healthy vegetarian rainbow salad filled with red cabbage, roasted veggies, herbs, feta cheese, chickpeas, and farro.
Spring is in the air and what better way to welcome it than with this beautiful salad?! The farmer’s market has some beautiful veggies and I’m all over it. Well, to be honest, this salad actually came about because I needed to use up the red cabbage in my fridge. Do you ever have that problem? You buy the smallest head of red cabbage for a recipe but still end up with a massive amount that needs to be used up? Seems like the story of my kitchen.
Anyways, here I am trying to figure out what to do with it. Luckily, I had been to the farmer’s market the week before and bought this beautiful yellow cauliflower. And some broccoli florets. The bell peppers are always a must in my house. Whether cooked into dishes or raw, they appear everywhere. Roast all of these beauties up with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil. That’s it. So simple.
In the meantime, I decided to add in some roasted chickpeas, a bit of feta for some tang, a some dill to balance out the feta, and cook the farro to be the foundation for all of these gorgeous ingredients. With so much going on, I decided to keep it light on the dressing with a simple drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
To be honest, you can make this amazing salad anytime of the year. It is just more fun now with the colors so vividly bright and bold with fresh produce available. You can absolutely customize with what you can find at the market. Here are a few options:
- cherry tomatoes
- carrots
- asparagus
- green beans
- peas
- zucchini
- squash
- brussels sprouts
- beets
Cooking Farro:
Cooking Farro can vary depending on the brand you use. The one from Trader Joe’s takes 10 minutes and the one from Bob’s Red Mill takes 30 minutes. I recommend following package instructions as each one varies from the next.
If you are looking for a gluten free option, simply substitute the farro with quinoa or brown rice. I’ve used both and both substitutions taste amazing with this salad.
Looking for more salad recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad
Quinoa Fiesta Salad
Springtime Lentil Salad
Summertime Watermelon Salad
Tomato Avocado Cucumber Salad
Rainbow Farro Salad
Ingredients
- 2 c cooked farro**
- 1 c yellow cauliflower, florets
- 1 c broccoli florets
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
- 1 c red cabbage, chopped
- 1/4 c feta cheese crumbles
- 1/4 fresh dill, chopped
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil, divided
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp black pepper, divided
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a bowl, toss broccoli, cauliflower, and red bell pepper with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Toss well.
- Line baking sheet with silicone mat and add tossed veggies to baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- In the same bowl, add chickpeas with 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and toss.
- Line another baking sheet with silicone mat and add chickpeas. Sprinkle the paprika over the chickpeas and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Once the veggies and chickpeas are done baking, remove from oven and assemble the salad.
- Line a large salad plate with the farro at the bottom.
- Layer the roasted veggies on top. Add in the red cabbage.
- Finally, layer in the chickpeas.
- Sprinkle in the feta and garnish with the dill.
- Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice.
- Serve right away.
Notes
**To cook the Farro:
Rinse the farro first, then fill a medium saucepan with water. I don't measure it, just like pasta water. Bring to a boil, then add the farro and cook until softened. Pearled farro with take about 15-20 minutes (which is what I have used in this recipe) and regular farro will take 40-50 minutes. Drain and rinse, then cool. You can cook the farro a few days ahead for easy prep.
**To make this recipe gluten free:
Substitute Farro with Quinoa or Brown Rice.
**To make this salad Vegan, omit the Feta Cheese. Feel free to add any vegan cheese crumbles of your choice.
Here are the tools I used:
[…] Rainbow Farro Salad I love eating in color and this gorgeous Rainbow Farro Salad has an abundance of it. Vivacious and crunchy purple cabbage, bright red bell pepper, pretty yellow cauliflower, tangy feta, earthy dill, and so much more. All of this drizzled with just enough olive oil and lemon juice to bring it all together so beautifully that each bite has you saying Mmmmmmmm. […]