When I’m walking around Borough Market, I enter this sort of dream-like state. It’s as if I’m floating around, too stunned and excited by what I see to utter even the most basic pleasantries. It was fortunate then, that my most recent visit to Borough was with my oldest and best friend, after our planned visit to the design museum. For that is one of the best things about knowing someone for so long isn’t it? You don’t need to say anything just for the sake of it, you can just get on with enjoying yourself and each others company.

We stopped for paella with chorizo (below) before heading in, which is when I spotted people carrying Borough Market shopping bags. Not plastic bags, but ethical bags* like the ones we are all supposed to be using now, except with Borough Market stamped on the front in bold green. Being the food geek that I am, I had to have one and so we tracked them down, hastily handing over 3 quid each for the pleasure. As I admired my bag I became aware of my friend frantically rummaging and squealing with excitement. Food! There was food inside! A selection of the traders had sacrificed some of their wares by way of advertising and inside we found, organic dry cured bacon, a walnut loaf from DeGustibus, an ‘ultra’ chocolate brownie, a bag of coconut ice from the award winning Burnt Sugar, a Bramley, an orange and finally, a bag of farro.

Now strangely, I’ve never got around to cooking with farro. My first instinct was to use it in an autumnal broth but I wanted something to see Chris and I through the week for lunch and so I came up with this salad instead. I added chickpeas to enhance the nutty flavour of the grain and threw in lots of Mediterranean flavours, along with some radishes for a Turkish twist. Everything then gets a good dousing in a dressing made with Rose Harissa. If you haven’t tried this special harissa, I urge you to do it. Belazu do cute little jars of the stuff. It will set you back about 3 quid, but it’s well worth it. So much more punch than a regular (shop bought) harissa, but then balanced by the delicate perfume of rose petals. The dressing is particularly good if you use the oil that the marinated tomatoes come packed in.

There is something so satisfying about making up a batch of a salad like this; wholegrain goodness mixed with all kinds of delicious morsels – varying textures and flavours with every bite. I must admit I also feel a slight smugness when I pack up those neat little lunchboxes and hand one to Chris with a piece of fruit, flashing my, ‘aren’t I an organised domestic goddess smile’ . In reality, it’s a case of a bit of chopping (very therapeutic), a bit of mixing (couldn’t be easier) and then a lot of chucking everything into the same bowl (an idiot could do it – and it’s healthy!). Minimum effort for maximum reward.

I’ve been writing this post sat on the floor in an empty room, not because I’m masochistic, but because we are moving into a new flat this weekend. All our belongings are in storage and we are kipping in our friends’ living room for the next few days. As a consequence, I don’t expect to have the internet for a few weeks and so no posting for me. I will however, be like a whirling dervish in my new kitchen, so it’s just a case of manically posting here when I return.

Farro Salad with Rose Harissa Dressing

Farro (I used the entire bag you see pictured. The original bag was cooked and eaten too quickly), cooked according to packet instructions. I have used various brands since and found they all take 20 minutes or so.
15 kalamata olives, pitted
10-15 marinated tomatoes packed in oil, roughly chopped (I used Sainsbury’s ‘sunblush’ tomatoes marinated in oregano and garlic).
A handful each of basil, mint and parsley, roughly chopped (this is just what I had in the fridge but basil and mint are fantastic together I think).
1 standard pack of feta, crumbled
6 spring onions, chopped
1 standard tin of chickpeas packed in water, drained.

For the dressing

Rose harissa (I used Belazu)
Olive oil from the marinated tomatoes – about 4 tablespoons. (if you are using regular olive oil, add a crushed clove of garlic to the dressing).
Juice of ½-1 whole lemon.

- Cook the farro according to packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, chop everything, drain the chickpeas and add all the salad ingredients to a serving bowl.
- Make the dressing by stirring 1 ½ tablespoons of the harissa into the oil followed by a good squeeze of lemon juice.
- Allow the farro to cool slightly before mixing it with the other ingredients. It really makes a difference to add the dressing now while the farro is still warm.

* On the subject of bags, I’m so pleased that we are finally waking up to the fact that carrier bags are so unnecessary. I have been trying (not always successfully) to cut down on them for a couple of years now and it’s a relief that I no longer have to say, ‘no thanks, I don’t use them, we throw away 13 billion a year’ at the checkout. On reflection, I must have sounded like a self-righteous idiot but never mind. The advantage now is that shops are beginning to offer their own (ethical) shopping bags more readily. Forget Anya Hindmarch’s, ‘I’m not a plastic bag’, I’m talking about your local grocers, markets and the like. Of course, its symbiotic – you get a free bag and they get free advertising. Although I do try to avoid the supermarket, sometimes (quite often actually) it just isn’t possible and so I’d rather be carrying my groceries home in my trusty SMBS (health foods shop in East Dulwich) shopper than in a supermarket equivalent – aside from being bad for the environment, I don’t want to do them any favours.

The supermarkets are apparently now required to recycle their bags and as a consequence are making them thinner. I found this out first hand a few weeks back when I found myself with no option but to use a Sainsbury’s carrier. As I was leaving the store, I heard an almighty crack and felt a sharp pain in my foot. When I came to my senses I realised the bag had broken and my bottle of cider had smashed on the floor. As I was waiting for a replacement, I chatted to the lady at the customer services desk, ‘happens all the time now’ she said, ‘several times a week – they’re making them thinner’. Now of course, I can’t vouch for the truth of this, but it all seems a bit silly to me. Let’s get rid of them and be done with it. We’ll all get used to it in the end.