I made a salad today! That may sound like a funny statement coming from a plant-based eater. One would think that salads are the mainstay of a vegan’s diet. Well, in some ways this is true, but even us self-righteous plant-based folks can get off track sometimes! These dark days of winter find me getting my vegetables through soups and stews and curries and other one pot wonders. All delicious and nutritious, but not, necessarily, fresh, light, or raw. So, today, I made a salad! It’s a winter salad, in that it has both cooked and raw elements. It has grains and beans, and it has fresh, raw vegetables. It’s hearty yet fresh. It’s filling and satisfying AND full of vegetables.
This Winter Salad features one of my favourite grains, farro, plus Borlotti beans. There’s a story behind the beans. Tom and I subscribe to a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). This year, the farm grew a few types of beans – some familiar like black beans and cannellini beans, and some unfamiliar (to me) like Tiger Eye beans, Marfax beans and Borlotti beans. Borlotti beans are also called Cranberry beans and are often used in Italian cooking. I cooked up a pot of Borlottis, tossed them with some farro, threw in a variety of tasty vegetables, including some greens, and heightened the flavour of it all with a simple dressing. Here’s how I made it:

Winter Salad
1 cup cooked farro
1 cup cooked Borlotti beans
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded green cabbage
2 cups spinach, large julienne
3 tbsps avocado oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tsps Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
Toss all the ingredients, from farro to spinach, together in a large bowl. In a small measuring cup or small lidded jar, whisk the dressing ingredients together (oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt). Pour the dressing over the salad and mix until the dressing is well combined with the farro, beans and vegetables. You can eat it right away, but it tastes way better if left to sit and marinate for an hour on the counter or overnight in the fridge.
As always, adjust dressing ingredients to taste. I like lots of garlic and salt, but you may want to scale these ingredients down a bit.
You can change up the vegetables to suit what you have on hand and what you prefer to eat. Some shredded brussel sprouts would go well in here. Some small cubes of roasted butternut squash would be a nice addition. Swap out the spinach for massaged black kale.


