
It’s so hot to the point where I am no longer drinking hot coffee at work. I strongly prefer hot drinks even in muggy weather. But the heatwave is insane. Also, my car’s AC is broken. If you even care. I’ve been chugging water (which is good) and savoring any indoor establishment that is heartily cooled.
There is no indoor establishment so frigid as a grocery store. Whole Foods, which is already like a playground to me, is so cold. Last month when I was finishing rehearsals at 7pm I’d go there for dinner and gorge myself on whatever was left at the hot bar. Spoiler, they close it down around 7:30 so I kind of had to book it. One of those days they had shut down the rice cookers, so I turned to the salad bar for a carb source. It was there that I met the most gorgeous coagulation of cold salad ingredients: adzuki farro salad. I was skeptical of the beans, but it was so ridiculously nutty and good that I wrote it down and vowed to make a better version. Because, as fun as it is to traverse Whole Foods, the hot bar isn’t that good considering the price.
I originally had my heart set on this being an exact copycat, but I’m really bad at sticking to instructions and I have a nasty habit of trusting my palette more than other people’s, which isn’t a good thing and it’s actually kind of embarrassing. I added sriracha peas because they’re so underrated as a salad ingredient. I also added tomatoes because I felt like the WF salad was missing something fresh. I completely ignored whatever dressing they used and made my own miso-peanut one. So, I’m not calling this a copycat, it’s more of a heavily inspired offshoot.
I included in this recipe a preparatory path to making this cooking experience less hectic. It is not lost on me that there are a lot of ingredients and a lot of things to do, for lack of a better term. Take your time, start early, and trusttttttt me.
For the salad
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1 cup of dry farro (about 150g)
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1 medium-sized sweet potato (mine weighed 398g) + a bit of olive oil
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juice of half a lemon
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a shake of cinnamon
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1/2 a head of red cabbage, I used a small one but the size isn’t super important
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2-3 carrots, you’ll need about 1 cup’s worth
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1 cup frozen edamame, shelled (about 100g)
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1 can drained adzuki beans (15 oz.)
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a fat handful of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup should be enough
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1/2 cup sriracha peas (30g)
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a small bunch of cilantro, about 1/2 an ounce
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4 scallions
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plenty of salt and pepper
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sesame seeds, to garnish
For the dressing
~ make your life easier with some prep ~
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Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
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Cube the potato into small 1/4-1/2” pieces. Generously salt ‘n pepper it, drizzle with olive oil and lemon, then add a shake of cinnamon. Bake it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the pieces are soft and retain some toasty color.
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Shred the carrots.
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Slice the tomatoes into sixths by cutting them in half longways, then making two horizontal cuts along the long pieces.
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Very roughly chop the sriracha peas; I find both big and little pieces is a good textural addition.
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Remove the cilantro stems and chop until the pieces are no bigger than your fingernail.
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Chop the scallions, on a bias if you wanna get fancy w it!
Doing all of these ^ pre-assembly will make your life a lot easier. Separate them into bowls and chill them in the fridge while you prepare the grains, beans, and dressing.
Assembly
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Start with the farro. Rinse it under running water then cook according to package instructions (I used my rice cooker with a 1:2 farro-salted water ratio for about 30 minutes). Once it’s done cooking, drain it and cool it in the fridge.
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Thaw and warm the edamame through according to packaged instructions, then let them cool in the fridge.
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Drain the adzuki beans and rinse them. Put them in a large bowl (this is what you’ll serve the salad in).
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Remove the core of the cabbage. In the serving bowl, mandoline or shred it.
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Add in the sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, sriracha peas, cilantro, and scallions. Put the bowl back in the fridge.
Make the dressing
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In a small bowl using a spoon or whisk, combine the miso and peanut butter with a bit of water (start with a tsp. or two) and microwave it for a few seconds to make it easy to stir / semi-liquidy.
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Whisk in the sesame oil, coconut aminos, vinegar, and garlic.
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At this point, use your superhuman intuition to determine whether or not the farro is cool enough to add (it probably is).
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Dress the salad (note: you could serve it on the side, but it helps make all the ingredients a bit more cohesive. If you really want, use half of it and serve the other half on the side).

