If you are looking for one big last Hurrah of summer, this is your salad. It has all the delicious tastes of the season, tossed together; kind of like a summer sunset in a salad bowl. When I made this salad, I left the shrimp out and served it on the side because I had two vegetarians eating, but I think it’s best tossed in the salad. End-of-Summer Salad well for company because, although it is a lot of ingredients, it can mostly be made ahead and tossed together at the last minute.

You could also substitute the shrimp for another seafood like lobster or crab meat. When I served this salad to my daughter, she loved it but suggested mixing up the watercress for another green, as it is very peppery. I thought it worked fine but if you don’t like watercress, you could substitute another lettuce, like Bibb or Romaine. I get my farro at Trader Joe’s and it cooks up in 10 minutes, but I’ve left the instructions for farro that isn’t quick cooking. You can also find white miso, on the shelf, at Trader Joe’s, as well as cornichons, those cute little French pickles.

The ladies at my 51st Avenue Bookclub loved this salad, with several recipe requests. I would serve it with a loaf of bread, some soft honey butter and a cold white wine. The recipe is from Real Simple magazine, September 2022.

End-of-Summer-Salad

Recipe by Real SimpleCourse: EntreeCuisine: SouthernDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

40

minutes

An easy to put together salad that is chock full of summer flavors.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup pearled farro

• 8 oz. fresh green beans, trimmed

• 1 lb. peeled and deveined medium shrimp

• 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

• 1 Tbsp. white miso

• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 12 oz cherry tomatoes

• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from 3 ears)

• 1/2 cup chopped cornichons

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more for boiling

• 4 oz. watercress, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 cup crispy fried onions (like French’s)

• 1 cup torn fresh basil

Directions

• Bring 4 cups lightly salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add farro and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until farro is just tender. 25 to 30 minutes; drain. Spread farro on a rimmed baking sheet and let cool.
• Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add beans and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer beans to a colander using tongs or a slotted spoon, reserving water in pot. Rinse beans with cold water and pat dry. Cut each in half.
• Return water in pot to a boil. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium and simmer until shrimp are just pink, about 2 minutes. Drain and let stand until slightly cool. 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk vinegar, miso and mustard in a medium bowl. Whisk in oil.
• Place tomatoes, corn, cornichons, farro, beans and shrimp in a large bowl. Add crushed red pepper, salt and miso mixture; toss to combine. Gently stir in watercress and basil. Transfer to a platter or plates. Top with fried onions; serve with more crushed pepper, if desired.

Notes

• You could substitute shrimp for lobster or crabmeat, or leave it out to make it vegetarian.