Dinner Art

I got turned on to farro, or emmer wheat or Triticum dicoccon, one of the oldest domesticated grains, fairly recently and I like it’s chewy nuttiness quite a bit. Usually I use it in place of pasta or rice, to sop up the sauce. But here’s my take on a summer salad. Cook and dress while warm, let cool (the flavors will meld nicely) and eat. Yeah, that easy, like all the composed summers of summer. I followed the cooking directions on the vacuum-packaged farro: let soak for half an hour in cold water to cover. Drain. Cover with fresh water and bring to boil. The directions say simmer for 25 minutes, but I keep a sharp eye and tooth on it, since I don’t want porridge, and it doesn’t take that long. Meanwhile, raid the supplies for a dressingI used the basic pesto I made last week (just basil and oil), and added more olive oil, along with vinegar, garlic, spring onion, garlic, and home-made mustard. Some lemon juice would be good, but I didn’t have a lemon handy. You could add some raw or cooked veggies, cheese, and/or meat to this, and you’d have a very fetching meal. I sliced up CSA snap peas and threw in some Eagle Cheese of Ave. U salami. These are my basil leaves, from the Back 40:
The CSA berries last night weren't particularly ripe. Damn! So I made semi-jam, thick coulis, un-topped pie, whatever you want to call it. A quart of berries, three or four tablespoons of sugar, cook until bubbly gooey. Like a 1000% improvement. Eat it on dairy, man, or just a spoon standing up over the counter in your skivvies.