In recent years bob has been pretty successful in keeping a chokehold on his food magazine impulse buy habit, but this time checking out the Costco cheaper magazine rack, America's Test Kitchen came on strong with a "buy me!" title "Superfood Recipes" backed up by rich interesting content that a quick browse revealed, so it went into the cart. At home palatable ideas were not materializing for a dinner menu, so bob quickly looked for something in the magazine compatible with our items on hand. Farro came immediately to mind since we don't turn to it often enough, and yes, there was a can of artichoke hearts waiting for us, and little tomatoes are a normal food item in our cuisine, and an open jar of Costco pesto was waiting in the fridge, although we had to scoop away some mold, keeping our fingers crossed.
This is pretty simple stuff. It just requires cooking the farro a bit longer than pasta, prepping the little tomatoes, quartering the artichoke hearts. Details. But sitting down to taste the result, just amazingly flavorful. And supposedly healthy right, the title says "superfood." We admit to taking a shortcut using the store bought pesto, but that makes it easier to do, quicker too. Less chance of not having the right ingredients on hand. Which we didn't---no fresh basil. And oh yeah, our farro was not whole, which takes longer to cook. We did have 2 lbs of spinach from Costco that we cooked down for later use, and threw in a handful of cooked spinach as well.
ATK recipe | our modifications | ||
1 1/2 c | whole farro, rinsed | pearled farro | |
1 T | salt | ||
2 c | fresh basil leaves | [used pesto sauce] | |
1.5 oz = 1 1/2 c | baby spinach | [used pesto sauce] | |
1/2 c | raw sunflower seeds, toasted | toasted pine nuts | |
1 oz = 1/2 c | Parmesan cheese, grated | [used pesto sauce] | |
2 | garlic cloves, minced | [used pesto sauce] | |
1/2 c | cold pressed extra virgin olive oil | 1/4 c? | |
1/3 c | organic plain lowfat yogurt | ||
12 oz | cherry tomatoes, halved | gourmet medley small tomatoes | |
2 c | whole baby artichokes packed in water, rinsed, patted dry and quartered |
||
salt and pepper, adjust to taste | |||