Farro salad with roasted vegetables and halloumi

Are you one of those people who gets overly enthusiastic at a farmer’s market or when choosing items for your weekly produce delivery? Do you always end up with way too much produce and wonder how you’re going to eat it all before it goes bad? Uh huh – that’s me!

What to do with excess produce? Roast it!

If you can’t fathom how to include all the excess produce in individual meals, one of the best ways of using up veggies that need eating is to roast them on a sheet pan. Not only will you be able to deal with a lot of veggies at once but it’s pretty fuss-free (and so is the cleanup).

I found myself in my crisper bins the other day wondering what had possessed me to buy so many baby eggplant and cherry tomatoes (the eggplant were adorable and the cherry tomatoes were pretty…) and, more than anything to make room, I pulled them out along with some bell pepper and zucchini and had the makings of a pretty nice roasted veg tray.

It’s pretty, right? Add a little bit of olive oil, some Herbes de Provence and some salt and pepper, then the tray goes into a 375˚F oven for about 30 minutes.

Out of the oven, it’s even prettier and now you get to use all that lovely roasted veg in a variety of different ways.

How to use oven-roasted vegetable?

The beauty of these is that you can:

1. Eat them as-is accompanying pretty much any dish
2. Incorporate them into a pasta sauce or simply them to  a jarred pasta sauce to kick it up a notch
3. Use them in a salad – from pasta salad to grains, like farro, wheat berries, pearl barley, these vegetables work so beautifully pretty much in any salad.

In today’s recipe, I’ve got all those “need to be used up” veggies, plus farro (a high-fibre ancient grain that looks like barley but is slightly larger with a bit more of a nutty flavour) – because there was a lingering cup or so in my pantry (still trying to work through my pantry) and halloumi (lovely grillable cheese that doesn’t melt when it’s grilled so is perfect for topping salads or veggies) – because I was inspired when I saw it at the gourmet deli on my way home one day. An impulse buy? Sure. But it sure went well with this dish!

The great thing about this dish is that you can prep everything in advance except the halloumi and that only takes about 15 minutes just before you assemble the dish and serve it. Perfect for a summery supper in the backyard!

Yield: 6

Farro with roasted vegetables and halloumi

Print

A summery salad with roasted vegetables, grilled halloumi and farro.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

for the farro:

• 2 cups cooked farro or wheat berries
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• zest of 1 lemon
• freshly ground black pepper

for the vegetables

• 1 medium (250 g) bell pepper
• 1 large (300 g) zucchini
• 2 x small (250g total) eggplant
• 1 1/2 cups (250g) cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence or thyme
• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the halloumi

• 250 - 300g halloumi

to serve

• finely chopped fresh basil

Instructions

Prepare your vegetables:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375˚F. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper or prepare a large ceramic baking dish.
2. Chop the pepper, zucchini and eggplant into 1cm cubes. Halve the cherry tomatoes.
3. Place the vegetables in a large bowl with the garlic and toss with the oil, Herbes de Provence or thyme, salt and pepper, making sure the vegetables are evenly coated.
4. Spread the vegetables in an even layer on the baking tray or in the dish and cook for about 30 minutes, mixing them occasionally to ensure they are evenly browned.
5. Set aside and allow to cool slightly until you are ready to use (do not refrigerate unless you are not using them until later that day or another day).

Mix the farro and the vegetables

1. Mix the farro and the roasted vegetables with 1 tablespoon oil, the lemon zest and a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper.
2. Set aside while you grill the halloumi.

Grill the halloumi

1. Slice the halloumi into 1/3 inch/ 3/4 cm slices.
2. Heat a non-stick grill pan over medium heat.
3. Grill the halloumi slices until they are golden brown on one side then flip and grill the second side. You might have to do this in batches depending on how big your pan is and how large your slices are.

Serve!

1. Top the farro and vegetables with the halloumi and the chopped fresh basil. Serve while the halloumi is still warm.
   

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Nuts.com Organic Farro
• 
  BOBS RED MILL Organic Whole Grain Farro on Amazon

did you make this recipe?

please leave a comment or review on the blog or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @eatlivtravwrite !

I love the sweetness of the roasted vegetables, the nuttiness of the farro and the saltiness of the halloumi here – they work really well together. And look so pretty!

An excellent use for those veggies that need eating up but also an argument for buying veggies expressly for this dish!

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