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If I start out the day with a Danish or a bowl of sugary cereal, everything goes downhill from there.
Hunger strikes again with a vengeance by 10 a.m., which either encourages snacking, or an energy slump, and then my body seems set on expecting sugar the rest of the day.
So I try to break away from that trap, and eat breakfasts that stay with me the whole morning, and that provide the kind of nutrition and fiber needed to power through work and tasks.
But it has to taste delicious. Are you with me?
Lately whole grains have been coming to my rescue. You can accomplish it with cooked whole oats, but even nuttier and chewier is farro, an Italian wheat grain.
I cooked up 6 ounces of farro (it cooks to 2 cups), spooned some into a bowl and ate it with sliced banana. Wonderful! No sugar needed!
Recipe: Farro and Banana Breakfast
Summary: Whole grain farro, sliced banana and a spoon are all you need for a filling, satisfying breakfast that will stay with you.
Ingredients
- 1 (6-ounce) bag Melissa’s Organic Farro
- Cinnamon stick (or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon) (*optional; see note in recipe)
- Ripe bananas
Instructions
- Cook the farro according to the package directions. (Cover with water by 1-2 inches, bring to a boil, turn down heat , cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes. Drain before serving or using.)
- *If you know that you will be using the entire 2 cups of cooked farro for breakfast, you might cook it with a cinnamon stick in the pot. If you are only using a portion for breakfast, cook it plain so the leftovers can be repurposed for a lunch salad or dinner.
- Drain and serve farro in a bowl, decorated with sliced banana on top. For me, the banana made the whole thing sweet enough. If your sweet tooth is raging, you can certainly drizzle with maple syrup or honey or fling on some brown sugar.
- Serves 2-3.
Organic Farro
Melissa‘s Organic Farro is a nutritious whole grain with a nutty flavor and chewy bite. It cooks in about 35 minutes, and can be used in place of rice or barley. Serve it for breakfast, toss it in salads for lunch, or as a grain side dish for dinner. It is available in a package, as shown here, or sometimes in bulk at health or specialty food stores. Melissa’s Produce sent a sample of the farro for recipe testing.
Soaking the farro
Confession: I fully intended to make this fantastic Italian Easter pie/cake with my farro, and so I had the grain soaking for 3 days in preparation. However, my flighty cooking whims took me in a breakfast direction instead! What I learned, though, is that if you soak the farro for 3 days, you only need to finish cooking it for 5 minutes (not 35 minutes). Voila!
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian, Vegan
Number of servings (yield): 3
Culinary tradition: USA (General)
Other farro dishes you will enjoy
Yogurt, Farro and Fruit Breakfast Parfait - Mango Chickpea Kale Farro Salad
- Sweet Potato, Sausage, Kale and Farro Soup
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Cooked it in a ratio of 1:3 and it was quite chewy. Next time I may make it 1:3.5. Although it could be my rice cooker – this one is ancient!
Never tried farro, but I always have some cooked up brown rice in the frideg to throw in salads, etc. I LOVE nutty/chewy so I’m excited to give this a try. My question is, can I cook the farro in a rice cooker??
Surfer Girl (Lori),
I have never cooked farro in a rice cooker, but it’s the kind of thing I would try, so tell me how it works!
Now that I’ve tried farro for dinner, I’m game to try it for breakfast.
Thanks!
Kirsten,
My strategy is I make some — cook it up plain — and then eat some for breakfast, throw some into a salad, make a little pilaf out of it for dinner, etc. It makes it so easy to have it already cooked!
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