Chicken and Farro Salad
by Jay Wadams
Chicken and Farro Salad is hands down one of my favourite lean and green chicken recipes! Packed with nutritious grains, lean poached chicken and fresh vegetables, this super salad is healthy and incredibly delicious too!
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken breasts 2 medium
- 150 g whole grains pearled farro, pearled barley and wild rice, see notes
- 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder
- 75 g raisins
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- ½ a long cucumber
- ½ a red bell pepper
- a small bunch of fresh parsley
- 2 tsp dried oregano adjust to taste
- 125 g Feta or goat cheese
- 3 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
- sea salt and black pepper
for the salad dressing:
- 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 60 ml red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ - 2 tsp brown sugar or honey
- juice of half a lemon
Scan the QR Code to view the online recipe with detailed instructions, photos, hints, tips and more at daysofjay.com
Instructions
- POACH THE CHICKEN: Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a small saucepan. Cover with water (don’t fill the pot, just enough water so the chicken is well covered) and grind a little salt in. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and remove from the heat. Set aside, covered.
- COOK THE GRAINS: Pour the grains into a large saucepan. Add 1 ¼ litre (1.25 qt.) cold water and the stock powder and stir to combine. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes until the grains are cooked and have a nice chew. Add the raisins in the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Tip the cooked grains into a sieve and rinse under cold water.
- MAKE THE DRESSING: Combine all dressing ingredients with a pinch of salt in a glass jar and shake well.
- CUT VEGETABLES & SHRED CHICKEN: Roughly dice the tomatoes, cucumber and peppers and chop the parsley. Remove the chicken from the poaching water, allow it to cool for a minute or two, and then use your hands to shred it into bite-sized chunks.
- ASSEMBLE: Combine the cooled farro and grains, vegetables, parsley, oregano and chicken in a large bowl. Crumble over the feta cheese and pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Taste and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, adding vinegar and oil to taste.
- SERVE: Transfer the salad to a serving platter, scatter over the pumpkin seeds and serve.
Notes
If I am not serving the salad immediately I like to make a double batch of the dressing. The grains will soak up a lot of the dressing, so if you have extra in hand you can tip it up to taste.
Grains: I have used a mixture of nutty farro, barley and wild rice which all cook at a similar speed. You could use all farro or barley if you like. I have used wild rice rather than brown rice, though I believe it would work the same way.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 690kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 648mg | Potassium: 1083mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2117IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 215mg | Iron: 4mg