I have seen ad nauseam all of the video about baking feta and tomatoes and mixing it with pasta. Some people add Italian seasonings… sometimes dried, sometimes fresh. Others add red pepper flakes. Everyone adds an exorbitant amount of olive oil. I mean, seriously, way too much olive oil. And, all in all, you have a glorified macaroni and cheese made of feta.
It didn’t appeal to me until I started thinking of a new vegetarian meal I could throw together. And I asked myself what a good farro dish could be with burst tomatoes and roasted cauliflower… and this tik tok trend of the feta block with tomatoes came back into my head. And I groaned, and said screw, let’s jump on the bandwagon.
But, at least I am taking a strong detour away from feta + tomatoes + pasta, done. That said, this is a super easy Meatless Monday meal to make. Like you’ve seen twenty thousand times, the feta and tomatoes go into a baking dish. I dramatically cut back on the olive oil because all of those calories are totally unnecessary. The cauliflower and cannellini beans go on top off a baking sheet that will bake on the rack just below the feta and tomatoes. You can totally use chickpeas if you prefer too!
Farro, depending on how chewy you want it, can take anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to cook, which is the amount of time everything takes in the oven! I like to cook farro in vegetable broth with a good dash or two of salt. I call for three cups cooked farro, which is about one and a half cups uncooked farro.
To take all of these flavors up a couple of notches, I blended together lemon zest, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh oregano. Lemon zest really nicely accentuates tomato sauces. For fresh herbs, I’ve grown to discover that they really only make an impact when added in at the end. If you’re cooking something low and slow, use dried herbs and add some fresh herbs right before serving. For a dish like this, adding herbs while cooking really won’t make much of a difference to the flavor. So grab some fresh herbs to blend together and add right before serving for that extra burst of flavor!
This is just a healthful and yummy Meatless Monday meal, and it’s so easy too! Just pop everything in the oven, get the farro cooking on the stove, and you’re done for the next forty minutes… just pop back into the kitchen once or twice to toss the cauliflower and cannellini beans! And hey, if you’re like my BFF and don’t like cauliflower, swap it out for broccoli for a more colorful dish!
Enjoy!
Baked Tomato Feta & Farro with Roasted Cauliflower & Cannellini Beans
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Vegetarian
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
8 oz feta chunk
3 cups cherry tomatoes
3 cups cooked farro
2 tsps red pepper flakes
1 head cauliflower, chopped into 1” – 2” florets
1 – 19oz can cannellini beans, rinsed
4 TBs olive oil, divided
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes
8 garlic cloves, minced
zest of 1 lemon
2 TBs fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 TB fresh oregano
salt & pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place the feta in the middle of a large baking dish and surround it with the cherry tomatoes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the feta and tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the red pepper flakes. Toss to coat. Bake for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, on a baking sheet, toss the cauliflower and cannellini beans with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake on the rack below the feta and tomatoes for 40 minutes, tossing several times.
In a small food processor, blend together the lemon zest, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, and basil until smooth.
When done baking, mix together the feta and tomatoes until it forms a creamy sauce. Add the cauliflower, cannellini beans, farro, and the sun-dried tomato paste. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt & pepper.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Keywords: baked feta, tik tok baked feta, vegetarian baked feta, meatless Monday, farro and feta salad, roasted cauliflower and farro
