As usual, I was watching  the Rachael Ray show and she made the most delicious Mediterranean dish-Farro Bowls!  Farro is an “ancient grain” that kind of reminds me of barley. It’s mild in flavor and has a nice bite/chew to it. Farro is a healthy carbohydrate source for people-even if you have kidney disease or diabetes. I buy my farro at Trader Joes. If you love the flavors of Mediterranean dishes, you’ll love this! It has kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, lemon, and garlic just to name a few! Thank you Rachael Ray for this super fabulous dish!

 -Tammy

Health tips: kidney friendly, diabetes friendly

Ingredients (6 servings)

• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 3 large cloves garlic, grated
• 2 TBSfresh oregano, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 TBS white wine vinegar
• 1 TBS honey
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 1 cup farro
• chicken stock
• Salt (optional)
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 scallions, both whites and greens thinly sliced on a bias
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 loosely packed cup parsley tops,
• 3/4 pound Greek feta, drained and crumbled
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 8 to 10 drained pepperoncini, sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp
• 1 lemon, cut in half

Steps:

1. Whisk up dressing ingredients ( zest and juice of lemon, garlic, oregano, chili flake, vinegar, honey, olive oil) in large mixing bowl and set aside.
2. In a saucepot, cover farro with 2 inches of chicken stock, bring to a boil, season with salt (optional) and cook 20 minutes to al dente; drain.
3. In the same large bowl you made the dressing in, add the drained farro and combine. Toss in cucumber, tomatoes, scallions, red onion, pepper, parsley,  feta, olives and pepperoncini into the bowl. Toss to combine; set aside.
4. In a small bowl, toss shrimp in a little olive oil and sprinkle with pepper and salt (no salt if you  have kidney disease). Cook the shrimp (in a skillet, grill pan, or on the grill) just a few minutes until pink. While cooking shrimp, place lemon (cut side down) in the same vessel you cook the shrimp.
5. To assemble, in a shallow bowl, make a mound of farro salad and top with shrimp. Squeeze grilled lemon over everything. Enjoy! 🙂