Tofu Farro Salad

Tofu Farro Salad

This original recipe was conceived when I didn't have dinner made ahead of time and a bunch of leftover material. I feel like this was fate like when H.B. Reese thought of combining peanut butter and chocolate. The recipe comes togather in minutes and does not require and heating elements. There are two key ingredients I want to highlight: farro and smoked tofu.

Farro is a special ancient type of wheat that is eaten like rice. It is far more nutritious than rice and comparable to quinoa in nutrition.

 Farro is very easy to cook. Soak it over night and boil it in water like pasta. Drain out the water and you have cooked farro.

I know a lot of you don't like tofu because it is "flavorless" unless you doctor it up. If you buy smoked tofu, all the doctoring is done for you and most of the moisture has already been smoked out so no pressing is necessary. I usually buy this brand of smoked tofu from Harris Teeter:

Picture Source: http://www.primetimeparenting.com/nasoya/

This recipe yields two full meal servings (no sides needed)

1. Start by cooking 0.5 cups of farro. There are many different types of farro which each have their own cooking times. You can even use a different type of grain if you have leftover of something else.

2. Prepare your sauce by combining until smooth:

• 0.33 cups of non-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons of tahini (sesame seed butter) or another type of nut butter
• 1-2 teaspoons of pre-crushed garlic 
• 2 tablespoons of dijion mustard
• 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste (optional) 
• 0.25 cups of balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

3. Prepare your other ingredients which includes:

• 2 cups of cherry tomatoes which you then have
• Half a large cucumber cut into cubes
• 8 ounces of smoked tofu cubed
• 3.5 ounces of arugula or another type of dark leafy green such as spinach

4.  Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix.

And you are done.