Caroline Chambers is the brains behind the What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking Substack, which is the ultimate resource for home cooks who want tasty meals on the table, fast. And one of Chambers' favorite formats for a doable dish is the "good-all-week salad" that "can hold up dressed for multiple days in the fridge." Chambers' crunchy, creamy, adaptable apple chicken farro salad is a perfect example of how to use hearty greens for satisfying meal prep. "This one has a base of kale, a fiber-rich grain (farro!), and chicken for protein," Chambers writes. "It’s also got apples, pecans, dried cranberries, cheese, and fresh herbs for tons of flavor."
"We’re going to pack the chicken and farro with fall flavor by cooking them at the same time in apple cider and water," Chambers continues. "It sounds weird, right? Trust the process!" As your kitchen gradually begins to fill with the fragrance of simmering apple cider, you'll get the picture.
Chambers points out that it's easiest to make the apple tahini maple dressing while the chicken and farro cook. Just assemble a few simple ingredients, and you're good to go: "Apple cider, apple cider vinegar, tahini, maple syrup, lemon juice — it’s creamy, kinda tangy, kinda sweet, and crazy good. As always, salad dressing beauty lies in the eye of the beholder: Add more tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, etc., until it is perfect for you! We all like our salad dressings a little differently, and that is a good thing!"
As always, Chambers encourages you to shop your own pantry to use up what you have on hand:"If you hate mint, swap it out for flat-leaf parsley or dill...If you have a lingering summer peach or ripe pear on hand, you can slice it up instead of the apple. If you’d rather use brown or wild rice or quinoa or Israeli couscous instead of farro, do it! Cook it the same way as the farro, just adjust when you add the chicken based on how long the grain will take to cook."
Speaking of farro, the time it takes to cook the grain will vary depending on what you buy: "There are many different kinds of farro, and they typically take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to cook. Trader Joe’s even has a 10-minute farro, and it is excellent! The bag will say how long it will take to cook — read that before you start cooking this recipe because you may need to do some math to figure out when to add your farro and chicken to the pot. If the farro you have takes 20 minutes or longer to cook, follow the recipe directions — add the farro and chicken to the pot at the same time, and just pull the chicken out when it reaches 165°F internally and keep cooking the farro until it’s tender."
Leftovers will stay good in the fridge for up to four days (use an airtight container). That said, Chambers notes that the textures of the ingredients will change with time: "This salad does get softer as the days go on, but in a tasty way — like I actually prefer it on day two or three. That said, if you like really bouncy, full kale (or if you are swapping the kale out for a more tender green like arugula), then you should dress it individually each day versus all at once on the first day. I didn’t find that the apples brown, but if you want your apples as fresh and snappy as possible, you can wait to add them to each serving right before you eat it. Same for the nuts! If you want them really crunchy, add right before serving."
As you've probably noticed, Chambers adds a ton of details to her recipes to make each dish as user-friendly as possible. If you enjoy cooking flavorful meals with what you have on hand, Chambers is offering KCM readers a 30-day free trial to her Substack, which is full of recipes that make weeknight cooking fun and adaptable. And if you don't know where to get started, we recommend her hella green pasta.
Apple Chicken Farro Salad
Author: Caroline Chambers
Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 28 min
Calories: 1,050 calories per serving
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 cups plus 1 tablespoon apple cider, divided (note that that says APPLE CIDER not apple cider vinegar!)
- 4 cups water
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup farro (if your farro package says it takes less than 20 minutes to cook, read the first note beneath the recipe before you start cooking!)
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large organic lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon tahini (or almond butter)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (10-ounce) bag chopped curly kale
- ½ cup mint leaves, thinly sliced
- 1 large Honeycrisp (or Cosmic Crisp, Sugar Bee, etc.) apple, thinly sliced
- 5 ounces aged white Cheddar, Manchego, or Parmesan cheese, thinly sliced
- ½ cup dried cranberries or yellow raisins or chopped dates
- 1 cup chopped roasted, salted pecans (or hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts, or almonds)
- Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
In a large pot or saucepan, bring 3 cups apple cider, 4 cups water, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a boil over high heat. Add 1 cup farro and 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (yes, raw!) to the boiling water, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cover the pot (either with its lid or a sheet pan if your pot doesn’t have a lid). If your lid is bubbling off, turn the heat down a bit! The chicken will take 15 to 20 minutes to reach 165°F internally (at which point you should use tongs to remove it from the pot), and the farro will take between 20 and 45 minutes to fully cook depending on the type of farro you have (see notes below the recipe for more on this). Just pull the chicken out of the pot when it’s fully cooked, transfer it to a cutting board, and keep cooking the farro until it’s tender. Add more water to the pot if it’s getting low. Drain the farro (I use the lid to create a small opening and pour off the excess liquid right from the pot — or you could use a colander). Chop the chicken.
Meanwhile, in a serving bowl, whisk together ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, the zest and juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons juice), 1 tablespoon apple cider, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon tahini, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
Add 10 ounces of chopped kale right on top of the dressing, add a big pinch of kosher salt, and use your hands to massage the kale in the dressing. Thinly slice ½ cup mint leaves, 1 apple, and a 5-ounce block of Cheddar or Manchego cheese. Add everything to the bowl of kale along with the cooked farro, chopped chicken, ½ cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup chopped pecans. Toss and season to taste with more apple cider vinegar (I like salads a bit more acidic so I add more of this!), kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. Don’t be shy with the salt and pepper — this salad should be very flavorful so keep seasoning until it’s absolutely delicious!
