Lentil & Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables

So, as you can see by the title, this dish doesn't really scream SUMMERTIME! Not only do you actually have to turn the oven ON but you also have to preheat said oven to a seriously roasting temp of 400 degrees. However, my dear (vegetarian) friend just had a beautiful, sweet baby and specifically requested this dish when I offered to bring dinner...and who am I to tell a post-partum babymama 'No'?

I first made this salad for a cooking club a couple of years ago because I was dying for a reason to try farro, a grain I'd only recently discovered at the time. As it turned out, the farro, as tasty as it was, ended up as that afterthought (aftertaste?) to the deliciousness of the earthy vegetables, creamy lentils and zippy vinaigrette.
Unfortunately I didn't write down the recipe after I created the dish 2 years ago so this time I had to rely on taste memory.
Thankfully, it turned out well, even with a last minute, random raddichio addition. And my dear (vegetarian) friend swooned over it, which is the ultimate reward.
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Lentil and Farro Salad w/ Roasted Veggies

1 cup french lentils
1 cup farro* (or barley, or hard red winter wheat)
5 carrots, peeled and quartered
15-20 cremini mushrooms, halved, stems removed,
2-3 T olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced
3 T parsley, minced
1/2 medium head raddichio, chopped

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice from half of a lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup plus 1 T olive oil
1 T minced fresh thyme
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
1) Toss peeled, quartered carrots and halved cremini mushrooms (15 or so?) with olive oil, S&P
2) Roast at 400 degrees until soft and slightly browned (the mushies will take less time than the carrots).
3) Let veggies cool and dice into small cubes.
4) While the veggies are roasting, cook 1 cup french lentils for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Strain and rinse under cool water to stop cooking.
5) Cook 1 cup farro as you would rice but do not over cook. It should still have a little bite to it. Rinse under cool water.
6) Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, dijon mustard, 1 T thyme and olive oil. Season with S&P.
10) Combine the roasted veggies, grains, lentils, parsley, leeks and radicchio. Toss mixture with enough of the dressing to coat everything. Let sit at room temp for about 20 min. Stir again to see if you need to add more dressing. Add more if necessary. Serve immediately or refrigerate, stirring frequently and adding more dressing as needed.
Stir before serving. (I also think this salad is best when it's brought to room temperature before serving, but this is optional.)

*I just made this recipe again for a different new-mama-friend of mine and used a combination of barley and hard red winter wheat. It was so deliciously nutty that I almost liked it better than with just the farro!

Grilled Radiccio w/Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Flipping through the venerable Alice Water's "The Art of Simple Food" I saw dozens of beautiful recipes full of what promised to be vibrant, full, layered flavors. But rather than choose something large and complicated, I decided to go with a simple side. I would have begun with something bigger, say, a main dish or a souffle, but isn't this supposed to be "Simple"?

Ms. Waters "recipe," if you can call it such, forgoes the usual List of Ingredients followed by a paragraph of Instructions. Instead, she glazes over the general technique and leaves plenty of room for modifications. Essentially, you cut a head of radicchio into quarters or sixths, depending on the size, tossed the wedges with a little olive oil and S&P and grill them over a med-hot fire until "wilted and tender throughout," which *should* take about 10 minutes. Then you toss the wedges with a little bit of your favorite homemade vinaigrette and serve.

As you can see by the title, I took a few liberties with this recipe in the hopes that my formerly and sometimes currently picky husband might actually eat it. I added the Gorgonzola and walnuts hoping to 'disguise' the purple leaves. For the vinaigrette, I chose red wine vinegar, which has a bit of sweetness to counteract Radicchio's bitterness. Furthermore, you should know that our fancy-schmancy $99.99 grill has two heat settings, "screamin' hot" and off, so the total cooking time was cut in half.

The verdict? Delicious. Hands down, this is the most. incredible. way. to eat Radicchio. The pungent, bitter flavor of the raw leaves melted away on the grill, leaving only a deep, caramelized nuttiness that paired beautifully with the walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola. Even my husband raved about it. As he says, "Everything tastes better with cheese and nuts." And there you have it.


*Grilled Radicchio with Toasted Walnuts and Gorgonzola
Serves 2-4

1 head of organic Radicchio
3 T olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 T organic walnuts, broken into pieces
2-3 T crumbled Gorgonzola
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Toast the walnut pieces in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly golden. Set aside to cool.
Trim base of Radicchio and cut into 4 wedges (for a smaller head) or 6 wedges (for a medium-large head).
Toss wedges with 1 T olive oil and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a separate small bowl, whisk remaining olive oil with vinegar. Season to taste with S&P.
Grill wedges over medium-high heat (or screamin' hot) until core is tender and leaves are darkened, 5-10 minutes, turning as necessary.

Transfer Radicchio to platter, top with a sprinkling of walnuts and Gorgonzola and drizzle with red wine vinaigrette.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I served this with plain, old hamburgers, baked organic french fries and grilled asparagus.