Spring Farro Salad with Strawberries and Feta

This girl loves a grain bowl.

You know, the kind that Sweetgreen charges $12 for but it tastes like magic in a bowl so you really don’t mind because it’s “healthy” and delicious?

The kind you tell yourself is a salad but really it has more grains than greens so the trickery is very real?

This is my version of that.

This spring farro salad with strawberries and feta may just fulfill your Sweetgreen cravings forever! Ok, ok, that may be a bit overboard – but this salad is really THAT good.

And it is perfect for your next spring brunch!

So let’s break down the components shall we?

First, the base is stupid simple and can be made a day or two ahead of time (yes, so this makes a perfect lunch salad for a busy day too!) All you have to do it cook your farro and then toss the hot grains with arugula and pesto, then let it chill out in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Any pesto works great with this dish – store bought pesto works perfectly or this classic basil pesto if you are feeling the desire to make your own!

Tossing it while hot does a few things, first the heat loosens up that pesto so a little goes a long way. This allows the pesto to evenly coat the farro and arugula and basically serves as the “dressing” for this salad. Plus, the heat from the farro will ever so slightly wilt the arugula so it all comes together in one perfect, filling salad base.

And aside from chopping some strawberries that’s basically all the effort that this salad takes. All that is left is assembly!

Right before you serve, toss in the sliced strawberries and crumbled feta. At this time, I also like to toss it with some good quality olive oil, a hearty squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt too, just to finish it off. It’s so simple to make but the flavor is insane!

Also, for all you fruit in salad haters, I have a disclaimer:
I’m not typically a fruit in salad kind of gal but the strawberries are the perfect balance to the sharp taste of feta and the herby pesto! Trust me on this and don’t knock it until you try it!