Farro Salad with Radicchio, Orange and Fennel

I know, I know, this isn’t exactly an all-American recipe. Give me a break, though, I do live in Italy and am constantly surrounded by some of the best food on earth… It would be pretty dense of me to try to avoid its culinary influences. And this salad is just so worth it, I couldn’t help but share it with you. It’s so simple, so delicious, and so wholesome… and we all need a healthy break from cupcakes and brownies every now and then, don’t we? …. Don’t we???

Ingredients (for 4):

• 1 1/4 c (200 g) farro
• 2 heads of radicchio (red cabbage), chopped
• 1/2 c (50 g) toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved and diced
• 2 oranges

For the dressing:

• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, ground
• juice from half of 1 lemon
• 1/2 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or red-wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Cook farro in a large pot of salted water until tender. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl. Add chopped radicchio, walnuts and sliced fennel and toss to combine. Peel and section (or “supreme”) your oranges, there’s a good step-by-step reference on how to do this here. Squeeze excess juice from remaining orange carcass and set aside. Toss the oranges in with the rest of the salad.

Whisk together the orange juice and reserved, diced fennel fronds with the rest of ingredients for the dressing. Dress the salad and adjust salt and other flavors as necessary.