Chicken, Farro, and Kale Salad

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

There are only a couple (non-holiday) Saturdays left of 2024, and I can’t help but reflect back to some of my favorite Saturdays this year.

My ideal Saturday with no plans is to spend the morning doing all my favorite things -I start by making Shiping and I a hearty egg scramble for breakfast. Then, we take a stroll through our neighborhood to get some good coffee, visit the farmers market, and come home to make a fresh salad for lunch.

It’s pretty basic and boring, but thinking back, those were some of my favorite moments of this year.

I’ve recently been obsessed with kale salads with a combo of lacinato kale and baby kale, and this salad particularly knocked my socks off.

It’s the combination of julianned radishes, Persian cucumbers, chewy farro, the sweet and tart balsamic vin, and savory chicken that make every bite so delicious.

Shiping and I wolfed down our bowls, talked about how we should do this more often (have no plans on a Saturday), and spent the rest of the day watching movies and doing absolutely nothing.

In the year where we started a business and spent many weekends working, finding joy in such a simple day was pretty great.

I hope you guys try this salad sometime this week, love it as much as we do, and take some time to reflect on some of your favorite memories and simple pleasures of 2024.

In addition to this chicken, farro, and kale salad I’m sharing this week, we are in the midst of my “good on grains” series. There are 2 new recipes on my website that are perfect for weeknight dinners - a minced beef stir fry with bokchoy and a sweet and sour fish.

This minced beef stir fry is such a banger - it’s made with 2 different types of vegetables (bokchoy and celery), beech mushrooms, and a simple broth-chili sambal-soy sauce situation. Easy, flavorful, and delish.

The sweet and sour fish is a great dish to make on another night, or to make with the minced beef stir fry if you’re feeding a larger crowd and want to have a few dishes for variety.

I know I’ve been leaning asian for most of my recipes the past few weeks, but I’ve got one coming next week that is a one-pot creamy mushroom and chicken rice skillet. It’s comfort food in a bowl and I can’t wait to share it.

Now, onto our Chicken, Farro, and Kale Salad: