This easy to make meal salad is full of vegetables and some grain. It’s colorful and flavorful while hearty and filling. It works either as a side, or as a base of a full meal. We like to add some pressed and grilled tofu to the top of this salad to make it into our full meal. We were sent a Chop Above cutting board by our sponsor to try out, and decided to give it a good run with a meal salad that involved a ton of chopping! To see how it did, keep reading!
What’s in the salad? Check out this video!
To chop all of those vegetables in the video? We are using this amazing invention called the Chop Above cutting board. This cutting board has legs! It rises the board above your mixing bowl so you can easily slide each ingredient in after you are finished chopping. See the video above for an example.
The Chop Above makes these giant salads and bowls so easy to make, and helps you keep the counter tidy while you’re at it (a mess free salad? Amazing!). The legs fold into the cutting board, so you can also use it flat on the counter, and it also stores easily. Although I will say that the dogs were disappointed I wasn’t dropping more vegetable bits on the floor for them to hoover up! You can find the Chop Above here on Amazon, or you can learn more on Facebook or their website.
And after all that chopping? You end up with a gorgeous salad:
This recipe uses farro, which is grain from a variety of types of wheat. It is relatively easy to find in grocery stores this day, as it is a grain that is growing in popularity due to its versatility in recipes.
Learn more about farro here. This recipe also uses the easy to find quinoa, and an equal amount of cauliflower to balance out the grains. You will only be using about a third of a head of cauliflower (or less, depending on its size). You can either chop the cauliflower for this salad, or “rice” it by using a food processor. It’s great either way, simply matters on your texture preference.
Ginger Orange Farro, Bean & Vegetable Meal Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 cups Cauliflower "riced" – chopped fine or use food processor to rice – bit less than average head
- 1 cup farro cooked
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1 cup kale massaged and chopped
- 1 cup Adzuki bean canned or cooked
- 1 cup tomato chopped/diced
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped. Any color or a blend.
- 1/4 cup green onion chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley chopped fine, plus more for garnish
- 1 Tbsp orange zest Or more, to taste.
Dressing
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp ginger minced or grated
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp orange zest
- 1-2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt optional
Optional toppings (add to taste)
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa and farro according to package directions. Let cool, and then add to a large mixing bowl.
- Chop the cauliflower or use a food processor to "rice" it. Add to the mixing bowl.
- Chop the kale, tomato, peppers, green onions, parsley and then zest the orange. Add all ingredients to the mixing bowl. We are using the Chop Above cutting board (as seen in the video) to make this super easy!
- Dressing: Blend or whisk all ingredients in the dressing section, and pour over salad while mixing until you reach a desired consistency.
- Refrigerate the salad after mixing for at least an hour or two to let the flavors develop.
- Options to add: Cubed apples or pears, raisins, or any type of seed or chopped nut.
Notes
If desired, can swap white beans or tofu (pureed) for tahini for a lower fat option.
Substitutions and adjustments
This recipe is easy to make SOS-Free by dropping the maple syrup and salt from the dressing. You can opt to add a bit more orange juice to the salad if you wish.
You can use full orange segments instead of using orange juice. Simply blend about half an orange instead of using the juice.
Instead of tahini, you can use white bean or tofu so this salad is even lower fat – simply puree with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a high-powered blender.
Chop Above cutting board
We enjoyed trying out the Chop Above cutting board. It’s a great versatile tool, easy to store, and makes chopping salads like this (among many other types of meals) easier and less messy! We love how you have the option to use the legs or fold them under, and how it also makes the board easy to store. You can fit a large mixing bowl under the cutting board for large salads like the one made in this recipe (you can easily double the recipe and it will still fit in a large bowl under this board).
To find out more information, and what other people think, use these resources:
- Grab your Chop Above here on Amazon
- Learn more on Facebook.
- Visit their official website here.
Share this salad, and let us know what you think!
Share the salad, save it on Pinterest for later, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This is a sponsored post written by Jen deHaan for Chop Above who provided the cutting board and compensation for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are based on the author’s personal view.
