I loved the idea of this event held my Meeta, Spring is in the air. I LOVE spring, I love spring food, spring air, spring acitivities. It is a period of great hope, where one starts over again. We had a long winter in the UK and I was counting the minutes for the change.
I love having loads of salad at this time of the year. Fresh herbs. Fruit.Berries, berries, berries. I have prepared this delicious salad which I think is very suitable for Meeta's event: a mango, mint and faro salad.The original recipe asked for bulgur wheat but I only had farro at home. If you don't know what farro is, in a nut shell it is a grain very much used in Italy.They say that the Roman legions used to feed on it. This is what About, the website says:
Grano Farro has a long and glorious history: it is the original grain from which all others derive, and fed the Mediterranean and Near Eastern populations for thousands of years; somewhat more recently it was the standard ration of the Roman Legions that expanded throughout the Western World. Ground into a paste and cooked, it was also the primary ingredient in plus, the polenta eaten for centuries by the Roman poor. Important as it was, however, it was difficult to work and produced low yields. In the centuries following the fall of the Empire, higher-yielding grains were developed and farro's cultivation dwindled: By the turn of the century in Italy there were a few hundreds of acres of fields scattered over the regions of Lazio, Umbria, the Marches and Tuscany.
The salad is great to be served with some nice chicken grilled on the barbie. A light meal. And truly scrumptious.
You'll need:
handful of mint
120g farro/bulgur wheat
a large mango cut into slices
juice of a lime
olive oil - about 2 tbs
spring onions - 4
salt adn freshly ground pepper
Prepare the faro / bulgur wheat according to the instructions on the package. Place the mango slices on a salad dish,followed by the mint leaves and the spring onions. Add the faro/bulgur wheat and mix it all.
In a separate bowl pour the olive oil, lemon juice and mix well. Then add the salt and pepper and pour it over the salad. Mix it all an serve with grilled chicken breast. It is absolutely delicious!
Inspiration: The Observer Food Monthly, UK
