Roasted Zucchini Farro Salad

This roasted zucchini farro salad has become my go-to weeknight summer dinner — I just love a good grain/slop bowl. It’s fairly easy to whip up and packed with fiber, protein, and a host of nutrients. 

Plus, this farro salad makes the most of summer produce, with roasted zucchini, sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs. And don’t skip the crispy chickpeas; they add a fun crunch and umami note to the salad.

Roasted Zucchini Farro Salad Ingredients

• Zucchini: The beauty of this farro salad is that you can use almost any variety of zucchini. My favorite varieties to use for this pasta salad are green zucchini, yellow zucchini, grey zucchini, striped heirloom zucchini, and zephyr summer squash.
• Chickpeas
• Farro: Used Bob’s Red Mill pearled farro — pearled farro just means the outer bran/husk of the farro is removed, which helps it cook quicker.
• Cherry tomatoes
• Fresh parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Za’atar: Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mix that typically has sumac, oregano, thyme, sesame seeds, and salt.
• Dried mint: If you can’t find dried mint, you can use 2 tsp finely minced fresh mint leaves.
• Ground coriander
• Sumac
• Honey: Substitute this with agave or granulated cane sugar.
• Lemon juice: I like to add a small squeeze of lemon when tossing the salad — I like adding acid at the end of the cooking process as heat tends to mute its flavor.

Method

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper. If you’re using your toaster oven (like I do), use a quarter sheet pan and preheat to 450°F convection.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, and chop into irregular half-moons. Dump onto the prepared pan along with the chickpeas, and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and kosher salt. Toss to coat and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the chickpeas are crisp and golden, and the zucchini has some char.

Add the farro to a medium pot, along with a large pinch of kosher salt, and enough water to fully submerge the farro. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium and let the farro simmer until soft but still has some chew — about 12 minutes. Drain and add to a large serving bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, roasted zucchini and chickpeas, and parsley to the bowl, and set aside. 

Heat the olive oil and garlic together in a small pot or skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally until the garlic begins to smell — it should be slightly golden. Take off the heat and add in the za’atar, dried mint, coriander, and honey. Stir. 

Pour the tempered spices over the salad, along with the sumac and a small squeeze of lemon juice, and toss to combine. Taste and adjust for salt (typically add 1 tsp of kosher salt). Serve warm.

A Few Recipe Notes

• Small zucchini > large zucchini. My zucchini method starts at the market: I like to buy smaller zucchini — small, thin zucchini tends to have smaller seeds and less water. They roast up super nice and firm! 
• For cooking the zucchini, I like to salt the zucchini to draw out the water so it can evaporate as it roasts. And because the zucchini releases water as it roasts, don’t overcrowd the pan, as it’ll steam into brown. 
• Toasting (or not toasting) the farro. Feel free to toast the farro before boiling it; to keep this recipe simple and unfussy, I opted not to. To toast the farro, add the farro, along with a generous drizzle of olive oil, to your pot, and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Keep toasting until the farro is sizzling and smells slightly nutty, then pour in your water and salt, and cook as usual.
• I don’t add the sumac to the hot oil — heat tends to mute the tang of the sumac. On that note, I recommend just adding a small squeeze of lemon and adjusting as needed. There is a good amount of acid from the fresh cherry tomatoes, za’atar, and sumac.

Serving & Storing 

• This salad tastes best served warm. If your farro is done before the veggies, leave it in the pot on low heat with a pat of butter, stirring occasionally, just to keep it hot. For leftovers, I like to spread the salad out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and reheat at 400°F until just warm. The tomatoes get a little jammy and add moisture to the salad, which is perfect after it sits overnight. 
• Depending on how you want to treat this salad, it can serve a few or many. If you want to serve this as a main meal (just this alone), it serves two. If you’re serving this as a side, it’ll serve 3-4 people. 

So excited for you to make this salad — it’s become a go-to dinner of mine. Please leave a starred rating and review; I love hearing from you!

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