Chicken Farro Salad

In case you were wondering, farro is my new favorite food!  If you're unfamiliar, it is a nutty and interestingly textured grain, that can really be substituted for any grain you would normally use (quinoa, brown rice, barley).  This recipe is inspired by my new favorite restaurant, True Food Kitchen. I travel to SoCal frequently for work and was lucky enough to sample this restaurant last week in Santa Monica.  The restaurant's focus is healthy, seasonal, and sustainable cuisine, and they do it right down to their amazing desserts.  True Food Kitchen's creator, Dr. Andrew Weil, also wrote a cookbook - True Food.  I ordered this ASAP and have already begun planning my meals around it. Back to this amazing salad...

...it is a great combo of salty Manchago cheese and sweet fresh dates. A champagne vinaigrette is the perfect finish. This salad is incredible!!!

Servings: 6
Serving Size: 1/6 of salad recipe + 1 t salad dressing
Points Plus: 7pp
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: n/a
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
Salad
1/2 cup uncooked Farro
Mixed greens, enough for four entree sized salads
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dates, pits removed and chopped
2 oz Manchego cheese, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup jicama, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup Marcona almonds
12 oz leftover chicken breast, skin removed

Dressing
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
1 T honey
Kosher salt + pepper

Directions
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the raw Farro.  Cook according to package directions. When cooked through rinse with cold water and drain.

In a large salad bowl toss all remaining ingredients. Serve salad with dressing on the side, allowing each serving 1 t of dressing.  Stick the rest of the dressing in the fridge for later use!

Tip
The hardest thing about this recipe is locating all of the ingredients.  Most all of them can be found at Whole Foods!

XOXO - Katie