In last week’s summer picnic giveaway with Terrain, I shared a peek at my new favorite summer salad. Today I’m sharing the recipe with you because it really is just so good (I’ve been eating it for lunch a lot lately!), and it’s perfect for the upcoming July 4th holiday. It’s so easy and such a great alternative to the pasta and potato salads normally served at summer barbecues. Here’s how to make it…

Farro Salad
(serves 4)

You’ll need:
4 cups cooked farro (we used 1 package of Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro because it’s so easy to make)

1/2 cup edamame, cut into halves

2/3 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)

1/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)

1 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced

1/4 cup crumbled feta (you can also use goat cheese)

1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds 

SweetSalt salad dressing (recipe below)

Here’s how:
1. Prepare all of the ingredients above. Toss together the farro, edamame, green onions, pomegranate seeds, and red cabbage.

2. Chill until ready to serve at whatever temperature you choose. The best thing about this dish is that it can be served cold, at room temperature, or warm.

3. When ready to serve, toss in the cheese, almonds and dressing.

Sweetsalt Salad Dressing
(Inspired by a restaurant here in L.A. called SweetSalt)

You’ll need:
2 shallots, chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 3 lemons

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 cup Champagne vinegar

1 Tbsp. honey*

1-1/2 cups olive oil

1/4 cup of white wine

Salt, to taste

*If you prefer the dressing a bit sweeter, add another teaspoon of honey.

Here’s how:
1. Add all ingredients except the oil to a blender. 

2. Blend on medium setting until smooth (about 30 seconds).

3. Slowly add the oil to the blender a little bit at a time. You can have a slow stream of oil going into the blender, but no more quickly than that. This is very important, as the dressing needs to emulsify, and if you add oil too fast, it’ll break.

4. Add to farro salad, toss, and enjoy!

Alternatively, if you want to keep everything really simple and easy (like if you’re taking this on a picnic), toss the salad with your favorite prepared salad dressing or simply a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil.

P.S. Terrain is offering Oh Joy readers 15% off all items (excluding sale items) through July 9th. Simply enter OHJOY2013 at checkout. 

{Photos by Bonnie Tsang. Production and recipe assistant: Julia Sir. Recipe consultant: Mari Tuttle.}