California Roll Salad with Farro and Pearl Couscous Recipe
A whole grain take on the California Roll in salad form with nutty Farro and chewy pearl couscous. A light soy and vinegar dressing to round out the flavors. This salad quick is to make and perfect as a light lunch or side dish to a main course.
Ingredients
For the salad
- 208 g dry farro (1 cup) * see notes
- 150 g dry Israeli couscous (1 cup) *see notes
- 150 g Carrot, finely shredded (1 cup)
- 133 g Japanese or Persian cucumber, peeled and finely shredded (1 cup)
- 26 g Sweet onion, about half a medium, finely minced (½ cup)
- 1 bunch scallions, about 10-12 onions, light and dark green parts only, finely chopped
- 226 g Imitation crab ½ pound
- 2 Tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons Japanese Furikake
- 2 medium Haas avocados, 453 grams (about 1 pound)
Dressing:
- 57 g rice vinegar, not sweetened (¼ cup)
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Mirin, Japanese cooking rice wine - not sake
Instructions
Cook farro and couscous to package directions for whatever brand you use. I used Bob’s Redmill and these are the instructions for theirs:
- Rinse and soak the farro. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil with a pinch of kosher salt. Add the farro and bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and rinse with cool water, set aside to cool completely.
- For the couscous, heat one tablespoon of oil or ghee in a saucepan and add the couscous and stir for one minute. Add one and a half cups of boiling water and bring to a boil, lower the heat and place a lid on the pan. Cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir and let cool completely, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking.
- Peel and shred the carrots and cucumber. Mince the onion in a food processor or shred using a box grater. Finely dice the dark and light green parts of the green onion.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked and cooled farro, couscous with the carrot, cucumber, sweet onion and most of the green onion, saving some green onion for garnish.
- Add In the furikake and stir.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients and add that to the salad and mix.
- Shred the crab and mix with the Kewpie mayo then add to the salad and mix.
- Keep chilled until ready to serve. When ready to serve, cut two avocados in half, remove the pits and skin. Finely dice then add to the salad. Serve.
Notes
Prep and cooking times are approximate. It takes the farro about 20 min to soak then 30 min to cook. Cooling depends on if you rinse with cold water or let it sit. Same with the couscous, which cooks faster but takes a little while to cool. You could briefly rinse the couscous with cold water, but you don't want to remove much of the starch.
Farro and Israeli Couscous will have varying cooking directions according to package or brand. If you buy in bulk, following the instructions above will work best. Farro is best rinsed and then soaked before cooking. Soaking for 20 minutes is fine. You can soak overnight if you like.
When I normally make farro or couscous for savory dishes I will use broth or stock in place of water. I used water here because I didn’t want the stock flavor to overpower the salad since the dressing is very light.
This salad will keep well for a few days kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
If it’s your first time making this recipe then make sure you read all of the information in the main post as it includes lots of additional tips, as well as the answers to some common questions.
If you have any further questions then do let me know in the comments and or email me [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help.
If you choose to make substitutions to the recipe that I have not tested yet please do so at your own risk, if they are successful I would love to hear about it and will add to my recipe notes for other readers to try as well.