This Sweet Potato Farro Salad with Black Beans hits every flavor note – sweet, tart, savory, spicy, salty, spicy. And, with the amazing textures of farro and arugula, it is simply Amazing! Just omit the cheese for a perfect vegan meal that everyone will love!
The other day, I sat down and watched one of my favorite movies – it is a remake of an older Disney movie, called “Freaky Friday”. It stars Lindsay Lohan as a rebellious teen and Jamie Lee Curtis as her mother. Have you seen it? The basic story goes like this: through some sorcery, they switch bodies, of course at the most inopportune time, and hilarity ensues. Anyway, my favorite line from that movie comes near the beginning, before they trade places, when Jamie Lee is dropping her daughter off at school. As Lindsay tries to make a quick getaway from her so-embarrassing mom, Jamie Lee leans out the window to send her off with a bit of sage advice. “Make Good Choices!”, she says loud enough for everyone to hear. Hilarious! I find that line just so, so funny! Truly, one of my favorite movie lines of all time. Why is that so funny to me? Well, it’s because that is the EXACT sentiment I want to relay to my kids Every. Single. Day. Because I know that life is a series of choices, big and small. And we often know the best choice isn’t necessarily the easy choice. If it were only that simple…. So, it is with this in mind that I made this beautifully healthy, completely satisfying, full of flavor Sweet Potato Farro Salad with Black Beans. It is simple. And one of the best-tasting salads I’ve ever eaten. It makes me happy. It even makes me joyful. Really. A great choice that is also a surprisingly easy choice.
Often when we eat a salad, the dressing is the star of the show. In this Sweet Potato Farro Salad, the ingredients are the definite stars, with the dressing simple to enhance and join their flavors. You’ll be surprised how fantastic this salad is with just a bit of olive oil and a squeeze of lime. I can’t even. A party of Flavors and Textures! The sweetness and slight char of the roasted sweet potatoes and onions, the chewy farro, slightly spicy black beans and crunchy arugula, all topped with the salty bite of shaved Parmeggiano Reggiano, and a bit of lime juice throughout all of it. (Just leave the cheese off if you want a vegan meal!) It is a substantial meal of a salad. But super healthy – full of protein, fiber, vitamins! And, OMG, this is my new favorite salad! I can’t wait to make it again!
So when choices we make become anything other than simple, try out this wonderfully delicious and healthy Sweet Potato Farro Salad. Other salads I love can be found here. They are all so yummy, but this is one of the easiest Main dish salads that you will ever taste! So Make Good Choices! (Is there any better advice than that?) And, Enjoy!
Sweet Potato Farro Salad with Black Beans (Vegan Adaptable)
Sweet Potato and Farro salad is a festival of flavors and textures! So delicious, so healthy!
To make this dish vegan, just leave off the Parmeggiano Reggiano or substitute a Vegan cheese!
- Prep Time: 10-15 min
- Cook Time: 35 min
- Total Time: 45 - 50 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
Ingredients
- 1 c Farro
- 4 c Vegetable (or chicken) broth (ok to substitute water and 1 t salt)
- 1 Medium Onion (any type), sliced into 1/4” slices
- 1 Large Sweet Potato, peeled and 3/4” cubed
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 t Groud Cumin
- 1 t Smoked Paprika
- 1 lime
- 4–5 T Olive oil, divided
- 1–5 to 7-oz. bag greens (I used arugula, but you can use any type you like)
- Shaved Parmeggiano Reggiano Cheese (Optional)
Instructions
Cook the Farro
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- While the oven preheats, place the broth (or water + salt) and farro into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Drain. Drizzle cooked farro with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and squeeze half of the lime over. Stir.
Roast the Vegetables
- While the farro simmers, Place the onion slices and sweet potato cubes onto a large sheetpan. (Depending upon size of your sheetpan, you may need 2) Drizzle with 2-3 T olive oil and stir so that all onion slices and potato cubes are coated. Sprinkle all with a large pinch of salt.
- Place in preheated oven, and roast until potatoes and onions begin to carmellize, about 15-20 minutes. Stir half-way through roasting time.
Prepare the Beans
- Pour the rinsed beans in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Add the cumin and paprika. Just prior to serving, heat the beans in the microwave about 90 seconds.
Compose the Salad
- Prepare individual salads by placing a bed of greens on each plate or bowl. Add a scoop of cooked farro, 1/4 of warm black beans, and 1/4 of the roasted potatoes and onions.
- Squeeze the remaining half lime over the salads. Shave some Parmeggiano-Reggiano over the salad. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 recipe
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That’s a delicious salad!! I could happily have that for my lunch! There is a mix of everything, greens, grains, beans and sweetness from the sweet potato! Those mild spices make it so worthwhile! Yummy Laura 🙂
Thanks, Deepika! I love this salad, too! I’m actually planning to make it again in the next couple of days- hope you get the chance to try it, too!
Laura, this is such a beautiful salad. I love the combination of all the flavours and textures in this salad and sweet potato is one of my favourite veggies so adding it to the salad sounds just so good. Definitely would love to try this recipe too.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Ashika! I love adding sweet potatoes to anything I can – they are one of my foods I would take with me if I’m being stranded on a desert isle! Ha! Hope you get the chance to try this salad! Thanks for visiting!
ahh yess i love that movie!! (i keep saying that i’ll watch the original, but i have a feeling that it will never be able to beat the jamie lee curtis/lindsay lohan version for me). my favorite part is probably (scratch that, definitely) is when chad michael murray is singing “hit me baby one more time” outside their house ?
Ha! Yes, that’s a good part, too! I don’t think I ever saw either of the first two versions of this, but I’m with you, probably will only watch this version! Thanks for visiting!
I love sweet potatoes but I know only few recipes which include them. Hence, I am so happy to read your recipe which is so awesome that I can’t wait to try it out, Laura!
Thanks, Agness! I love sweet potatoes and always am looking for new ways to incorporate them in healthy and delicious ways. I hope you get the chance to try this! And thanks for visiting!
Haha! I love the “make good choices” line, too. There are so many times we can look back and say “well, that sure wasn’t a good choice, huh?” But this salad? It’s always a good choice! So many awesome flavors going on in there…and the squeeze of lime juice sounds awesome!
Thanks, David! I love that advice because it’s, of course a perfect thing to do, and at the same time somewhat unrealistic. And I agree, this salad is a choice I will be making again, probably this week even! Thanks for visiting!
This salad is definitely a good choice :). I love salads with plenty of extras and this one sounds delicious!
Thanks, Kelsie! I agree, it’s a good choice! Thanks for visiting!
I love Freaky Friday!! Such an easy show to watch! I haven’t had farro in forever, thanks for the reminder! Pinning!!
It’s one of those movies I watched as a kid, then re-watched with my own kids, so it has a special place for me. Thanks for your visit and the Pin!
I love that you mentioned salad doesn’t need to have gobs of salad dressing. Real talk- when dining out I always ask for the dressing on the side then rarely touch it. I feel the ingredients within the salad speak for themselves. And I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve tried Farro before. I’m excited to give this a whirl bc it looks and sounds incredible 🙂
Christina, I hope you do get the chance to try farro – it is a whole other grain, in terms of texture and chewiness, although like other grains, takes on flavors of whatever sauce or veggie it is paired with. My favorite! Thanks for visiting!
Laura you do beautiful, tasteful dishes. What I respect about this one is using ancient grains ! Thank you very much !
Thank you so much for your kind words. Farro is one of my favorites – I love the chewiness! Thanks for your visit!
I haven’t had farro for ages! Love this combination of sweet potatoes, farro, beans, and roasted vegetables. Love the addition of cumin and paprika too!
Thanks, Ben! I do love farro – it is (currently anyway) my favorite grain, and cumin and paprika are my favorite spices so this was a natural! Thanks for visiting, Ben!
Your salad is just beautiful! I am such a fan of arugula, or rocket as it’s called in the UK. I absolutely love a salad full of flavor like this because, like you said, you can just squeeze a little citrus and a touch of oil and it’s ready to go. Beautiful!
Thanks, Tonia! This really is my new favorite salad – I love the heartiness of it combined with the simple flavors. I found it such a great combination of flavors and textures. Thanks for visiting!