Grilled Vegetable Farro Salad

If you can’t stand the heat… take your cooking outside! With the exception of the 30 minutes of hands-off stove time needed to cook the farro, this recipe calls on summer’s cooking savior — the grill! — to do the heavy lifting. And, by that, we mean cook you up some delicious vegetables in eight minutes flat.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry farro
• 5 cups water
• 4 Japanese eggplant, halved
• 1 pound yellow squash, quartered lengthwise
• 1 small red onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• Olive oil, for brushing
• 1/2 cup minced fresh dill
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/3 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pine nuts

Directions:

1. Add farro, water and a pinch of salt to a large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until grains reach your desired consistency. Drain any excess water, and set farro aside to cool.
2. Heat grill to high. Brush eggplants, squash, onion and tomatoes with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill for about 4 minutes per side. Once cool enough to handle, cut eggplant, squash and onion into bite-sized pieces, leaving tomatoes whole.
3. Add to the farro, along with dill.
4. Combine shallots, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in olive oil until fully emulsified.
5. Dress salad, top with pine nuts and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Photo via Serious Eats