Farro and Spiced Honey Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Apples, and Chestnuts
Farro, nutmeg, apples, and chestnuts. If you were given these four ingredients to work with, what would you make?!
Well that’s what was asked of me in McCormick Gourmet’s Go 4 Gourmet challenge. And I’ve had Thanksgiving dinner on the brain, so I knew right away that there was a wonderful fall salad in our future, perfect for the Thanksgiving table. Say “hello” to our new friend, Farro and Spiced Honey Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Apples, and Chestnuts.
This really was a challenge for me, as I’ve never cooked with either farro (pronounced “FAHR-oh”) or chestnuts. Challenges such as this can be blessings in disguise, pushing us out of our own regular thought processes, and introducing us to new ingredients that might just find a permanent place in our pantries.
What drove this salad’s flavors, besides the four required ingredients, was my desire to create a salad that counteracted all the turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy. Something that was sweet and bright and lovingly spiced with fall warmth and just a little bit of a kick…
And this salad does not disappoint one bit.
The farro is earthy and nutty and delicately chewy, and soaks up the all too delicious dressing in a most wonderful way, along with the sweet chestnuts, crisp fall apples, and roasted sweet potatoes.
Sweet and bright, the dressing is made of honey, freshly squeezed orange juice, and cider vinegar, and oh so lovely with a light touch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne. I love how the little bit of cayenne pepper lingers in your mouth, warm and tingly, happy to be a player in such a gorgeous salad.
Farro and Spiced Honey Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Apples, and Chestnuts
Ingredients
- for the salad:
- 1 c. uncooked farro
- 1 large sweet potato peeled and cubed into 1/4” pieces
- 1 T. olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 10 large peeled chestnuts
- 3 T. chopped green onion
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple unpeeled, cored and diced into 1/4” pieces
- 2 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
- for the spiced honey dressing:
- ⅓ c. honey
- 2 T. olive oil
- 2 T. cider vinegar
- ⅓ c. freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 T. orange zest
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg plus more for sprinkling over finished salad
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. cayenne powder
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
for the salad:
- Prepare farro as directed on package. Drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Place sweet potato cubes on roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scoot the sweet potatoes away from one end of the pan and add the chestnuts. Place pan in oven and roast for 15 minutes. Remove chestnuts to cutting board to cool. Give the sweet potatoes a stir, and then roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove sweet potatoes from oven, stir, and let cool to room temperature. Cut chestnuts into about 8 pieces each. In a large bowl, combine farro, sweet potato, chestnuts, and green onion. In a small shallow bowl, stir apple pieces with orange juice to coat well. Add apples to bowl with farro.
for the spiced honey dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients.
to serve:
- Drizzle spiced honey dressing over the farro mixture and fold several times to incorporate.
- Serve immediately at room temperature or refrigerate and serve within a few hours. Sprinkle just a bit of nutmeg over the top of the salad right before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Disclosure: Thank you to McCormick Gourmet for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. I’m incredibly grateful for opportunities such as this that allow me to keep doing what I’m doing, and sharing deliciousness with you each week. Thank you for supporting a farmgirl’s dabbles and the brands I love.
Hi-Tried to print this, because it sounds amazing, but when I print it, it causes an “unexpected error” and cause the page to close.
This looks so good! Gorgeous colors, too. Love love love it, Brenda!
Totally my kinda meal!!
I can’t wait to try this. The farro and the chestnuts are calling my name.
Great-looking fall salad, Brenda! :)
I have not used Farro yet in recipes, but the recipes I’ve seen for this ingredient haven’t excited me enough to buy it….until now! What a great salad with fresh warm spices and flavors. I can’t wait to make this for an upcoming dinner party. Thanks Brenda for another winner!
Just finished making this salad to try before my get together later in the month, If you need a great side dish/salad to serve this is it! My first time ever using farro and yes even chestnuts and I now have new favorite ingredients. The flavors in this dish are out of this world! The spices and fresh ingredients really shine in this dish! I wouldn’t hesitate to make this again! I am glad that I roasted more chestnuts than the recipe called for because yes, I ate more than I thought I would! Thanks so much Brenda for posting this recipe and for opening my eyes to new flavors.
What a nice way to wake up, to such a nice comment. Thank you so much for trying this, and then coming back to let me know. I’m so very happy that you like it! Have an awesome weekend, Wendy! :)
Gorgeous addition for Thanksgiving! Love all of the flavors and colors, just perfect!
I love farro and this recipe is calling my name! I really might make this tomorrow night :)
I still haven’t tried farro and I don’t know why! Now you’ve really inspired me with this really delicious sounding recipe. Looking for farro tomorrow at the grocery store :-)
I really liked it, Lana. I’ll definitely be keeping it on hand!
What a great fall salad! I love all of these flavors together!
I love how hearty this salad looks. Yum!
What a fun Thanksgiving recipe this would be, just different enough to add some interest to the meal! Love it!
What a fun challenge! This beautiful salad says it all: YOU DOMINATED! Pinned–I can’t wait to make this for a special dinner or to bring to a party!
Farro makes me swoon! Loverly.
This is a gorgeous recipe, Brenda! I love all these flavors so much and the chestnuts get me really excited for Christmas!
I’ve been on the lookout for a great fall salad and this is it! So gorgeous!
Love this recipe Brenda!