Sequestration Meal #105

One of the things I am doing for myself since making the adjustment to "living at the airport" (an analogy I explained in this post) is to start being intentional about choosing recipes and then sourcing the ingredients to make them, rather than just buying what I can and then figuring it out, because there is more to look forward to, and a little more joy in it. Plus it gets me to buy ingredients I'm less likely to buy otherwise, even if they're pretty easy to get, because I can easily get into a rut. More cucumbers and berries, anyone?

Hence this bowl of goodness, which is a veganized version of the reicpe for Farro Risotto with Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, and Lemon in America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2011. (I am pretty sure I bought this cookbook around 2011; I was so into the America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two series back then.) It was easy to veganize; I just had to swap Violife Parmesan for the cheese in the recipe (thanks to my friend who hooked me up with the Violife Parmesan!) and some Earth Balance for the butter. I did also have to use grape tomatoes because I couldn't get cherry tomatoes from Northeast Restaurant Direct (this is a bit weird; I think they're a pretty common thing?). But otherwise I made it as written, except that I didn't fully understand the recipe and I was supposed to cook the farro uncovered, and I mostly had it covered, so mine is more soupy than intended.

It was lovely anyway. It got me eating risotto and farro at the same time, two things I'd resolved to experiment with a bit more. It was full of a nice, bright vegetable-and-lemon flavor with the nuttiness of the farro. I would definitely make this one again.