Farro Salad

Farro is a delicious and slightly crunchy variety of wheat. I have read it was a staple in Roman times. We don't hear a lot about it because there are much higher yielding varieties of wheat, which are more profitable to produce. Farro is not too difficult to find, and it is well worth the search.

I added 3 cups of farro to eight cups of water in a pot. After it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium , cover and let it cook for 20 minutes. Add a little salt, reduce the heat further and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. The grains will be al dente. Drain, place in a mixing bowl and let cool to room temperature.

At this point, you can add whatever veggies you'd like. I reconstituted some dried Roma tomatoes and chopped them roughly. Cut up some yellow onion and some radishes from the garden. Finally, I cooked some frozen green beans, put them under cold water and drained them well.

All of the vegetables are mixed into the farro. I have made this before with varities of sweet peppers, olives, asparagus, pea pods, scallions... You get the idea.

We are entertaining a friend who is vegan this evening, but you could add meat as well. I suppose.

Use your imagination. Be whimsical.

The dressing I made is based loosely on that for Greek horiatiki salad. I whisked together some red wine vinegar, olive oil, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, some black pepper and a generous, a very generous spoonful of dried oregano.

Mix the dressing into the salad thoroughly. This can be refrigerated, but it is best, in my opinion, at room temperature.

I plan to serve it with some leaves of a few varieties of lettuce. Not ice burg mind you, but you could.

Bon appétit!

Fried zucchini

Across the street from the main gate of Hellenikon Air Base there was, and may still be for all I know, a little restaurant. A taverna called The Onion. It was the first place in Greece outside a military dining facility at which I ate. Twenty-three years ago. There was prepared the best zucchini I have ever eaten. Zucchini slices fried just until crisp. I don't know why I wanted to try to recreate them after this many years. Maybe just so I could have something with which to begin this blog.

I started by slicing a zucchini, about 1 1/2" in diameter, into slices about 1/8" thick. I poured olive oil, about 1/4' deep into a frying pan and turned the heat to high. When the oil was hot, I took the zucchini slices and dredged them in semolina flour and placed them in the hot oil. Don't crowd them in the pan. I counted out 10 per batch. After a little while I could see the sides darken and turned the slices, one at a time, and let them cook on the other side for a couple minutes. Remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. If desired, sprinkle with a dash of salt.

They came out pretty good. Not great. Just pretty good. I ate them just as they cooled and didn't try any condiments. Thickened yogurt with garlic would be pretty good. Maybe ketchup if that is your thing.

Were I to try this again, I might use semolina, instead of semolina flour, for a better texture. Maybe run through an egg wash before that. Maybe not.

Suggestions?

Bon appétit!