Farro, Cranberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Source: http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2012/11/farro-cranberry-and-goat-cheese-salad-recipe.html
PointsPlus: 8 servings @ 9 points each
Drew Rating: 4/5
Sara Rating: 4/5

Modifications: Served as a main dish over a bed of lettuce rather than a side

Notes: Merry Christmas!  At least that is what this dish screamed to me when I ate it.  I thought it tasted really good and would make a great side dish at the holidays.  As far as a main dish I don’t think it was a huge success because it was a lot of the same thing every bite.  Serving it over a bed of lettuce is really the only thing that saved it as a main dish.  The farro was interesting and I have never cooked with it before.  Compared to what I've eaten before, think of bigger grains of rice but more pillow-y or bread-y with just a hint of the bran.  It is supposed to be similar to wheat berries or Israeli couscous but I haven't had either of those before either.  Unfortunately this recipe just called for it to be cooked per package directions and Wegman’s only had this in stock in bulk.  A quick search of the web led to this site which recommends for 1 cup of farro bringing it to boil with 2.5 cups of salted water and then letting it simmer for 15-30 minutes.  I let it go 25 and it was OK; the full 30 might have been better.  Since this recipe calls for it to be cooled, I ran it under some cold water when it was done to save some time.  I had started dinner late and it was already about 8PM at this point.  While it did cool it down, it washed all the salt off so it lost some seasoning and it didn’t cool it down enough anyway.  As soon as I added it to the goat cheese it all melted together.  Not that this didn’t taste good but instead of the nice picture with all the little chunks of goat cheese, it formed a kind of cheese sauce and made it a little goopy.  So for next time I would serve it as a side dish, particularly around the holidays, and cook the farro ahead to allow time in the fridge to really cool off.

Sara’s Comments: I really liked the flavors but there seemed to be a little too high ratio of farro to other stuff.  I think it would be better as a side dish.