This Arugula Salad has grapes, cashews, pickled red onions, and a simple black pepper vinaigrette. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free.
SCALE
INGREDIENTS
for the pickled red onions
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup champagne vinegar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 red onions, very thinly sliced
for the black pepper vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic
for the salad
- 2 1/2 cups red California grapes, halved
- 2 cups cooked farro or a gluten free alternative like quinoa (I found pre-cooked farro in the rice section of the grocery store and it worked great)
- 3 cups arugula
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
- 1/2 cup chopped cashews
INSTRUCTIONS
- 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.
- 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. - 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. Let the salad sit for just a few minutes to really get it nice and yummy, soaking in that dressing.
NOTES
The amount of dressing is more than what you’ll need for 6 servings, but I always like to have extra homemade dressing on hand so I’m leaving these amounts as-is. Just keep the dressing for a few days and make the salad one more time!
For the nutrition I only counted half the dressing amount for 6 servings.
If making ahead, toss everything except the dressing, arugula, and basil. Those should be added right before serving.
