Farro with Roasted Beets, Sautéed Beet Greens, Balsamic, and Goat Cheese

When you get a bunch of beets with some beautiful, fresh greens in tact you get two veggies in one! Don’t throw em’ away – use those beet greens to make this warm farro-based salad. This dish combines the earthy flavors of beets and their greens with chewy, nutty farro. A sweet balsamic reduction adds some tang and makes the subtle sweetness in the beets really sing. Funky goat cheese and beets are a classic combo that I have leveraged in this dish. There are not words to describe how delicious this salad becomes as the goat cheese melts into everything!

This salad makes for a delicious meal or it can be served as a side. I like to meal prep this to eat throughout the week at work. It reheats well in the microwave or on the stovetop by adding butter, covering the pan, and heating over medium low. 

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Farro with Roasted Beets, Sautéed Beet Greens, Balsamic, and Goat Cheese

Servings: 4

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: 

• A bunch of beets with greens (3 medium to large beets)
• 1 cup of farro
• half an onion, diced
• 1/3 cups of balsamic vinegar plus 1 tbsp. (see note)
• 4 ounces of goat cheese
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• salt
• cooking oil

How-to:

1. Wrap beets in foil, place on a sheet pan, and roast in a 425 degree oven until fork tender, about 50 minutes. 
2. Pull beets from oven and allow to cool. 
3. Cook farro according to package directions until desired tenderness is reached. Exact time will depend on the type of farro you use, mine took 30 minutes. Make sure to salt the water well!
4. Heat a large sauce pan over medium. Add diced onion and cook until translucent and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. 
5. Add minced garlic to onion and cook an additional minute. 
6. While onions are cooking, peel the beets and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. 
7. Add cubed beets to onion and garlic. Add salt and black pepper. 
8. Chop beet greens and add to the pan. Stir everything. Add 1 tbsp. of balsamic and turn heat up to medium-high. Allow vinegar to cook off and deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits. 
9. Add farro to the beets and greens. Stir to distribute everything. Taste and add salt. Place into serving bowls or plates. 
10. To make the balsamic reduction, heat 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar over medium until reduced by half. balsamic should be thick and syrupy enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you are unsure, remove from heat for a few minutes and check the texture. 
11. Drizzle balsamic reduction over farro. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Serve with more goat cheese on the side. 

Note: This works best with a higher quality (read – usually more expensive) balsamic. The cheaper ones are often have other vinegars mixed in, added coloring, sugar, or even oil. They will not reduce into as thick of a syrup or even will separate and taste ‘off’. Use a balsamic that contains ‘grape must’ as the only ingredient. You can use a balsamic glaze (no need to reduce it, just top the salad) instead if you don’t want to use or don’t have a higher quality balsamic vinegar.