Lobster Farro Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
Lobster Farro Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette is bursting with the flavors of Southern Italy. This salad is wonderful for a date night or any other occasion where you want something a little extra special.
There are two kinds of cooking.
The first is “I worked late and need to get dinner on the table before I pass out from hunger/exhaustion” cooking. That’s where sheet pan meals, slow cooker recipes, and even meal delivery subscriptions come into play. Most of the recipes on this site fall into this category – and I even wrote a whole book filled with them!
The second kind of cooking is weekend cooking for the love of cooking. That’s when you pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some music (I’ve been in a big Speak Now-era Taylor Swift mood lately), make a colossal mess out of the kitchen, and end up with a complete masterpiece of a meal. Maybe it’s something classic like roast chicken or pot pie. Or maybe it’s something modern like this lobster and farro salad with citrus vinaigrette.
This farro salad is basically a copycat of one I had at Burger & Lobster in New York City. If you’re in the city, this restaurant is definitely worth seeking out. Salad isn’t the kind of thing you go there to eat at all but it caught my eye. I’m glad I rolled with it. And then I found myself craving it when I got home. I recreated their salad the best I could swapping sweet clementine segments for oranges and adding some crumbled feta because, if you ask me, everything is better with cheese.
Every single bite of this farro salad is bursting with flavor – from sweet lobster to juicy citrus segments to bright pops of herby pesto. And then there’s the vinaigrette. It’s sweet and citrusy and I want to put it on everything.
This salad is perfect for a romantic date night, a bridal shower brunch, or just a lazy Sunday night when you feel like making something special.
More affordable alternatives to lobster
OK, I know you’re thinking “Lauren I’m not made out of money, putting lobster on a salad is crazy.” I promise you it’s not.
One lobster will give you enough meat for four salads. They go on sale at least once a month at Price Chopper and they’ll steam them for you right there in the store so you don’t need to deal with that aspect of it.
Of course, there are more affordable options. If whole lobsters aren’t on sale, you might be able to save a few dollars by opting for lobster tails. Two tails will give you plenty of lobster meat. Look for them either at the seafood counter or in the freezer case.
Another option is to skip the lobster and use langostino tails instead. These shrimp-sized pieces of meat taste almost exactly like lobster. I buy big bags of frozen langostino tails at Trader Joes. They come pre-cooked so all you need to do is defrost them.
Shrimp or crab also make great alternatives to lobster in this farro salad. The flavor will be different, but they both have a similar salty sweetness that pairs really well with the other ingredients.
Lobster Farro Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 6 clementines
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ fennel bulb
- 1 steamed lobster about 1 cup chopped meat
- 6 cups arugula
- 1 cup cooked farro
- 2 Tablespoons pesto
- 2 ounces crumbled feta
Instructions
- Juice 2 clementines; cut the other 4 clementines into segments and set aside. Juice the lemon. In a large salad bowl, combine the clementine juice, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut the fennel cross-wise as thinly as you can. Add to the the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Let sit 5 minutes to help the fennel soften.
- While the fennel marinates, roughly chop the meat from the lobster tail and claws.
- Add the lobster meat, arugula, farro, and clementine segments to the salad bowl. Toss to combine and coat with vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Divide the salad between four plates. Drizzle with pesto and sprinkle with crumbled feta.
