I admit that name doesn’t really make it sounds very good, however the pepperiness comes from a few different sources – the arugula (a delicate peppery green), a black pepper viniagrette (that one is obvious), and some tart acidity from pickled red onions. This recipe I’ve taken pretty exactly from a Pinch of Yum with only major additions of how to cook farro. I also added some micro greens. 🙂

  
Just a warning, you will need to think in advance about making this since the onions require 24 hours of marinating. We ate this salad for a few days, so it does keep relatively well. 

Peppery Grape Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the Pickled Red Onions

• ¾ cup red wine vinegar
• ⅓ cup champagne vinegar
• ⅓ cup water
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 red onions, very thinly sliced (I only had room for 1 onion and it was more than enough…)

For the Black Pepper Vinaigrette

• ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
• ⅔ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic

For the Salad

• 2½ cups red grapes, halved
• 2 cups cooked farro or a gluten free alternative like quinoa (directions below)
• 3 cups arugula
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
• ½ cup chopped cashews
• 1 cup chopped micro greens/sprouts (I used pea shoots, but beet sprouts would also add a nice splash of color)

Directions

1. Pickled Red Onions: Place the vinegars, water, sugar, and salt in a jar with a tight fitting – shake lid until well combined. Add the sliced red onions. Refrigerate at least 24 hours or longer for best flavor.
2. Dressing: Place the vinegar, olive oil, sugar, pepper, and salt in a jar. Crush the garlic clove and just drop it in the jar in one or two pieces – the idea is that you’ll still get some fresh garlic flavor infused into the dressing without the little pieces of raw garlic in the dressing when you serve it. 🙂 Shake to combine. You can make this ahead.
3. Assembly: Toss the grapes and farro with about half of the dressing. Add the arugula, basil, cashews, and a handful (however much you want) of the pickled red onions. Toss to combine. Add additional dressing if it needs any more – for me, the original amount of dressing was just about right.

Making farro:

To make 2 cups of cooked farro you’ll need 3 cups of water and 1 cup dry farro. 

Tips:

• Use 1 part farro to 3 parts liquid. 
• As it cooks, the mixture foams, so 1 cup farro needs at least a 4- to 5-quart pan.
• Simmer farro, covered, until tender to bite, about 25 minutes.
• There will be extra water, it will not soak up all of the liquid like many other cooked grains. 
• If you want a creamy texture, let stand off the heat for about 10 minutes.
• If cooking farro ahead of time, drain while still hot; save liquid to add when reheating or ― since the grain makes a good salad ― to use as part of a dressing. Let farro cool, then cover and chill up to 2 days. Reheat in a microwave oven or use cold.

  
Enjoy!