Food 52

Burnt Broccoli Farro With Smashed Olives

Farro, an ancient grain with a nutty flavor and a dense texture and bite, is ideal for grain salad bowls like this one as it excels in soaking up dressing and is hearty without being heavy. Here, it’s tossed with a lemon-tahini dressing while hot and then mixed with broccoli and olives. The olives appear in two forms, first blistered along with the bite-sized pieces of broccoli in the pan, and then raw to add more texture and different flavors. Cooking the olives softens their bite while enhancing their flavors, making them plump and juicy. I love the mix of the two. Finished with a sprinkling of feta and quickie lime-pickled red onions, the dish gains an extra bit of creaminess and acidic crunch. Make it for dinner tonight and save some for lunch the next day. Some housekeeping: Use the farro cooking time to cut the onion and broccoli to be more efficient as you’ll have down time as it cooks. If you like a more pickled onion, then you can pickle it first so it sits longer with the lime juice. The important thing here is to cut the broccoli into tiny pieces so that they cook quickly: think trunkless treetops when you look at them and ones you can truly eat in a bite. You can cook the stems, too, just add them to the pan a little earlier or cook separately if it’s too crowded. To smash olives: On a cutting board, press the heel of your hand on the flat side of your knife to flatten the olive. The pit will either pop out or you can remove the flesh with your fingers.