This harvest bowl is a healthy, yet fully satisfying, bowl of farro, veggies, fresh figs, and crumbled blue cheese. Butternut squash and farro can be prepped ahead of time, if you prefer a no-cook meal. It pays to plan ahead, no?
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen | Bowls | America’s Test Kitchen, 2019
To build a bowl that showcases the bounty of an Italian harvest, we started with farro, an ancient Mediterranean wheat grain with a pleasant chew and nutty flavor. For our Italian farmers’ market–fresh vegetables, we loved the contrast of bitter radicchio alongside sweet roasted butternut squash. Ripe figs gave our harvest bowl a honey-like and slightly nutty flavor. A scant 1/4 cup of blue cheese on top lent just enough pungency to balance out the sweet and bitter ingredients. As a finishing touch, we whipped together a quick and simple balsamic vinaigrette, emulsified with sharp Dijon mustard. Any type of fresh fig will work in this recipe.–America’s Test Kitchen
Harvest Bowl
Is there anything else like Italy in the fall? Not many of us have the luxury of strolling through the food markets of Tuscany in late September, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring those flavors together in the comfort of our own homes.
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Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Arrange the squash in a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to evenly coat. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool.
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In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil until combined.
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In a large bowl, combine farro, radicchio, and parsley. Pour in half of the dressing and toss to coat, then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
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Divvy among individual bowls then top with roasted squash, figs, and blue cheese. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette. Devour.
*What is farro?
A fiber and protein-packed whole grain, farro has been around for 17,000 years. Yeah–peeps have been eating it for that long so it must be good, right? It has a nutty flavor and chewy texture and makes a pretty good replacement for rice in soups, stews, casseroles, and grain bowls.
Farro comes in 3 types, depending on how much of the outer husk has been removed. Think of it like rice–pearled has had the outer husk buffed off, like white rice. Whole farro is like brown rice, with the outer husk intact. Semi-pearled is in between.
Serving: 1servingCalories: 281kcal (14%)Carbohydrates: 38g (13%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 14g (22%)Saturated Fat: 3g (19%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 6mg (2%)Sodium: 286mg (12%)Potassium: 367mg (10%)Fiber: 5g (21%)Sugar: 10g (11%)Vitamin A: 4179IU (84%)Vitamin C: 13mg (16%)Calcium: 96mg (10%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Originally published August 19, 2021
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