Farro Bowl with Kale, Figs and optional Goat Cheese – a simple healthy meal, perfect for mid-week dinners or lunches. Quick and Easy!
What’s happening, friends? For many of you, it’s back-to-school and back-to-work. Oh how quickly the lazy days of summer are winding down…
Well if it is any consolation, it’s time for another plant-based buddha bowl to take to work and brighten up your busy week. This simple, healthy Farro Bowl with Kale Figs and Goat Cheese can be assembled in 10 minutes flat and easily packed up for mid-week lunches. It is dressed with a Balsamic Maple Mustard Dressing and the flavors are so complimentary!
Make a big batch of farro ahead and use it during the week, or freeze in smaller batches.
This delightfully luxurious Farro Bowl, seems decadent, but really, it’s as simple as it comes. Think of it as a little retreat for the taste buds, amidst all the busyness and chaos this week.
And of course, this would be great for dinner too. The bowl is dressed with a tangy Maple-Balsamic-Mustard Seed Vinaigrette that I’m sure, you’ll find other uses for as well.
Serve it up in a bowl like you see here, or layer it up in a mason jar for packable, on-the-go lunches. I promise, you will love yourself for this!
What I love about this particularly tasty goat cheese is the rind and its delicious creamy center….so flavorful!
Depending on where you live, fresh figs are in season now and love love love to be paired with goat cheese! While on San Juan Island recently, figs were literally dripping with sweet nectar, so full and plump and ripe for the picking. Such a treat.
When using Tuscan-style kale in salads and bowls, make sure to massage it first with a little olive oil and salt – this will tenderize it enough to eat raw and cut down on the bitterness. Baby kale is fine without the massage- it is already tender!
Toasted almonds and hemp seeds add a little protein and crunchy texture!
When cooking farro, cook it like you would pasta, in a big pot of salted boil water. Drain it when it’s plump and tender. Make a big batch ahead and serve it up several times during the week, or freeze it in smaller batches. That way you always have some on hand for buddha bowls, salads or side dishes.
An end-of-summer Farro Bowl with figs, kale and goat cheese – perfect for back-to-school nights or mid-week lunches. Packable, delicious and healthy!
For more Healthy Bowls Take a look at these 20 Vegan Buddha Bowls!
Or if you want to try more Farro recipes…. this one is tasty! Farro Risotto with Acorn Squash
Print
Farro Bowl with Figs, Kale and French Goat Cheese
- Prep Time: 20
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main, bowl, vegetarian
- Method: Assembly
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Simple, Healthy Farro Bowl with Kale, Figs and optional Goat Cheese – a simple healthy meal, perfect for mid-week dinners or lunches. Quick and Easy!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked farro (or other whole grain- quinoa, rice, barley, wheat berries)
- 2 large handfuls of chopped lacinato kale ( or sub baby kale)
- 4 figs, halved or sliced
- 1–2 tablespoons crushed toasted walnuts ( or sub almonds, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pecans)
- 1– 2 ounces goat cheese ( aged or crumbled)
- garnish: 1 teaspoon hemp seeds ( optional) or make Maple pecans!
Balsamic Maple Mustard Dressing
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
Divide farro among two bowls.
In a mixing bowl, massage lacinato kale to tenderize it with a pinch of salt and drizzle of olive oil until coated and pliable, about 1-2 minutes ( if using baby kale, no need to massage).
Divide kale among the bowls. Top with the figs and the goat cheese. Spoon the flavorful dressing over the farro, figs and kale. Sprinkle with walnuts and hemp seeds.
Enjoy!
Notes
Cook up a big batch of farro ahead ( like on a Sunday) and serve during the week, freeze in smaller batches for later use. Cook like you would pasta, in a big pot of salted boiling water. Add a splash of vinegar, a garlic clove and bay leaf for more flavor. Remember farro will almost triple in size.
The dressing will make more like 3 servings, so you may not need to use it all.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 Farro Bowls
- Calories: 428
- Sugar: 24.5 g
- Sodium: 109.7 mg
- Fat: 14.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 68.7 g
- Fiber: 10.3 g
- Protein: 13 g
- Cholesterol: 6.5 mg
This is my new favorite salad! I only wish fresh figs were in season longer. I’ve made a lot of recipes from here and all of them are fantastic! You really can’t go wrong.
Oh the fresh figs, I know they go too fast! Glad you enjoyed!
Threw together a single serving (actually a couple of single servings!) everyday version of this salad with what I had on hand since the combo sounded so delicious. Farro, bulger, brown rice mix; power greens; toasted walnuts; thinly sliced Costco dried figs; nutritional yeast; your dressing (didn’t even need to add the maple syrup with the dried figs)……mmmm, mmmm, mmmmmmm! Can’t wait
to indulge family and friends with your written version using kale, goat cheese, toasted hazelnuts or maple pecans.
So glad you enjoyed this Lisa!
This is a great recipe! I made maple walnuts and used pepitas and hemp seeds to top it all off.
This has to be one of the most delicious bowls I have ever made! Since figs are out of season, I use roasted sweet potatoes instead. I have made this bowl with farro and with brown wild rice– both were amazing. I also roasted walnut pieces and pumpkin seeds for protein. The sauce is out of this world– I double the recipe so I can use it for other recipes.
Love it!
Thanks for this substitution suggestion. I love figs but they went out of stock.
This is very simple and delicious. Both my husband and I enjoyed it very much,
So good! I used arugula instead of kale, because that’s what I happened to have, and I added sliced, roasted Delicata squash, which worked great. I used toasted pecans and pine nuts.
LOOOOOOVE this recipe! I had never tried farro, better than rice in my opinion! Thank you for your blog!
Thanks Heather!
Love this recipe- thanks so much. Used regular crumbled goat cheese, excellent.
I made this for lunch today, and it was absolutely divine!!! Thank you for this keeper of a recipe.
welp, my dinner idea just went out the window, this sounds like exactly what i want right now.