Farro, Chicken & Veg Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

I was introduced to farro, a type of ancient wheat, a few months ago, and I love how it gives such texture and ‘bite’ to a salad.

It’s also perfect for making a salad that just feels more substantial – I’ve even served this for an evening dinner, and it goes down a treat.

Category: Dinner

Preparation time: 50 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins (plus 30 mins marinating time)

Total time: 1 hour 44 mins

Servings: 8

Your Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 5 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cup of uncooked farro
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 fennel bulb
• 1/2 red onion
• 10 sweet mini peppers
• 1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup of fresh basil leaves

N.B. Use Chef Remi Measuring Cups Set and Chef Remi Measuring Spoons for accurate measuring of ingredients.

How To Make Your Farro, Chicken & Veg Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette:

1. Skin and bone your chicken thighs, and trim off excess fat by using heavy duty kitchen shears (easier than using a knife).
   
   
2. Juice your lemon.
   
   
3. In a small bowl, place the lemon juice and 5 tablespoons of the olive oil, and then snip over 1 tablespoon of thyme using herb scissors. Whisk well using a small balloon whisk. You should have roughly 1/2 cup of lemon vinaigrette.
   
   
   
   
4. Place your chicken thighs and 1/4 cup of your lemon vinaigrette into a zip lock plastic freezer bag. Seal well and turn over to coat. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, as well as the remaining 1/4 cup of lemon vinaigrette.
   
   
5. Skin your garlic cloves by crushing them between a chef’s knife blade and a cutting board.
   
   
6. Cook the farro (add 1 teaspoon of salt and the garlic to the boiling water) according to the directions on the package.
   
   
7. Once cooked, drain the farro and discard the garlic. Rinse well under cool water and place the farro into a large bowl.
   
   
8. Place a BBQ grill mat onto your outdoor (or indoor) grill and heat to 350-400°F (no more scrubbing grates clean afterwards).
   
   
9. Take your chicken thighs out of the fridge and remove from marinade using kitchen tongs.
   
   
10. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper.
    
    
11. Place your chicken onto the hot BBQ grill mat, cover, and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until done. Use a cooking thermometer to make sure you have cooked the chicken through to 165°F, the safe cooking temperature.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Now, transfer the chicken thighs to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
    
    
13. Using a precise paring knife, thinly slice your fennel, cut your red onion into wedges, and halve and deseed your sweet mini peppers.
    
    
14. In a big bowl, place the fennel, onion, mini peppers, the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
    
    
15. Toss all the vegetables together, place onto the BBQ grill mat and cook for 10-12 minutes, turning and stirring with a BBQ spatula until the vegetables are soft and slightly charred.
    
    
    
    
16. Transfer all the vegetables to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
    
    
17. Chop up your chicken thighs coarsely using heavy duty kitchen shears (easier than using a knife).
    
    
18. Place the chicken into your salad / presentation bowl, add the grilled vegetables and the parsley leaves.
    
    
19. Snip the basil and remaining 1 tablespoon of thyme directly into the bowl using herb scissors.
    
    
20. Take the chilled, reserved lemon vinaigrette out of the fridge and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with serving tongs.

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