Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad
Jackie Dodd-Mallory
(Senior Editor)
Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad
Somehow I ended up being the girl who brought salad to Thanksgiving. Not my usual holiday offering. Spending the holidays in an unfamiliar city and not being the host for the first time in forever drove me to beer up a salad. Maybe it’s caused by the stir-crazy-work-from-home madness that’s set in, a fall that’s actually cold, or the life I’m living that looks almost nothing like it did a year ago, but beer in a salad made everything seem right. I needed a little familiarity in my world, and all of my favorite salads contain pomegranate seeds and goat cheese. You can even forget the fact that this salad is red, green, gold and white, making it more festive than it should be allowed to be for a holiday salad. This is a season for indulgences: barrel aged beers, cakes, fudge, cookies, and pie. With all of these perfectly fantastic holiday foods, I give you a salad. But rest assured it’s a damn good salad, and with beer infused grains, it definitely made the naughty list.
Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole farro
- 12 ounces pumpkin ale
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 lbs asparagus tripped and chopped into 1 inch sections
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 3 wt oz goat cheese
Instructions
- Add the farro, beer, and broth to a pot over medium high heat. Bring to a low simmer. Simmer until farro is tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain off any remaining liquid.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Add the asparagus to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat.
- Roast asparagus at 400 until fork tender, about 8-10 minutes (less for thin asparagus, you still want some firmness, it’s best to under cook rather than overcook).
- Add the farro, asparagus, remaining ingredients to a bowl, toss to combine. Serve at room temperature.
Comments
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar December 1, 2014 um 1:03 am
I love that farro! Mixed with the pomegranate seeds and asparagus this looks awesome!
Hannah Helm December 1, 2014 um 6:57 am
I made a farro side for our church Thanksgiving dinner that people liked using butternut and dried cranberries. Can’t wait to try it again using a pumkin ale and pomegranate. I used a balsamic based dressing.
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy December 2, 2014 um 12:55 pm
Now THAT is definitely a salad that everyone would love. Holy yum!!
Claudia @ HomeMade with love December 3, 2014 um 1:21 am
That salad looks simple gorgeous. I never made anything with farro before..this is a great recipe to finely try it.
Liz @ Floating Kitchen December 3, 2014 um 5:03 am
Cooking the farro is beer is just plain genius. Love this salad, Jackie!
addie | culicurious December 6, 2014 um 11:19 am
What an amazing look fall salad. I love the colors and the flavor combinations. I also love combining whole grains with hearty greens. It’s such a wonderful way to get more fiber and make a salad more filling! 🙂