Farro Salad, Pesto Meatballs & Roasted Tomatoes w/ Goat Cheese Crostini

Spring is just around the corner, (maybe too soon!), and I am ready for fresh vegetables again. It's easy to get bogged down in the winter with heavier foods like pastas and root vegetables and so Anne and I made a farro salad to lighten it up a bit. Farro is an amazing grain-it is hearty and adapts well to so many ingredients. Like most cold salads I make, I just throw in whatever I have around-so you can put whatever you'd like in here but below is what we did last week. To make it more of a complete meal, we made pesto meatballs with ground pork, and a crostini.

Farro Salad

2 cups farro
1 roasted yellow pepper
1/4 roasted butternut squash
1 cup chopped parsley
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
s + p to taste

Boil the farro in water to cover, salt, and let simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes, until tender. Drain in a colander and cool. Mix all ingredients together and serve room temperature. Easy!

Pesto Meatballs

1/2 lb ground pork
2 tbsp basil pesto
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 clove minced garlic
s + p to taste

Mix all together and form small, 1" balls. Brown lightly in oil in a pan until cooked through.

Cherry Tomato + Goat Cheese Crostini

Toss cherry tomatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast at 300 until they burst and are blackened. About 30 minutes. These would also be great right in the farro salad! Spread slices of bread with goat cheese and top with tomatoes. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until bread is crispy.

Seedlings Up + Fat Rendering Round 2

How awesome was the weather this weekend? It was amazing being outside in the sunshine in shorts and a t-shirt and smelling the fresh air!  Our seedlings are up in the basement under the grow lights and they look very happy so far. The cold frames have been moved to their rightful spot in the garden and have been planted but nothing has come up yet.

Kale, onions, spinach, and beets.

The garlic and rhubarb have made it through the winter and the green stems poking through the leaves is a welcome change in the brown landscape.

A bag of pork fat was delivered to me by Brandon at Sand Farm and I gave rendering fat another go. If you can remember, I attempted this a few months ago cooking the fat over an open fire and it didn't go so well. I didn't know when it was supposed to be done and burned the whole batch.  This time, I knew I had to cook it much slower and steadier so opted to do it on the gas grill.  The smoke didn't taint the taste of the fat and I was able to have much more control over the temperature. Everything went great and I ended up with a good amount of rendered fat. When it cooled it turned a beautiful white color and I look forward to cooking and baking with this!