Roasted Broccoli and Spelt Salad with Feta

Lunch lately has been uninspiring. If I'm not staring into a sad container of last night's leftovers, then it's simple salad greens with the usual suspects—lettuce, parsley, celery, grated carrots, cucumber, avocado, tuna salad and toasted walnuts. And when things get really uninspiring and hopeless, I just treat myself out to lunch.

I like to experiment in the kitchen, but when it comes to lunches, I just get lazy. I often wander into the kitchen late at night, way past my bed time, and ho and hum in front of my open fridge as I try to figure out what I want for lunch the next day. More often than not, I simply grab for the same ingredients and make the same meal that I can pretty much make with my eyes closed. It doesn't require a lot of thinking. It takes less than ten minutes. And then I can get my tired tush to bed.

So when I came across this recipe for a Roasted Broccoli and Farro Salad with Feta in the Oct/Nov 2010 issue of Fine Cooking, I knew that this was the answer to my lunch-hour blues. The photo looked scrumptious and I absolutely LOVE broccoli. Especially when they are roasted.


I ended up picking up some spelt instead, which contrary to some sources out there, is not the same as farro (although the two are related grains). It has a wonderful nutty flavour and chewy texture, and is incredibly good for you—it is an excellent source of vitamin B2.

The recipe is so simple and makes plenty! As a treat to yourself, use a good-quality feta—a goat's milk feta like the one I used adds surprising depths of flavour to the salad.