Fall Salad

Pickle the onion

1. Thinly slice the onion, then add to a jar with a lid. Add the apple cider vineager and agave nectar. Screw the lid on the jar tightly, then shake a bit. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better. The thinner the julienne the faster the vinegar will work it's magic on the onion.

Roast the sweet potato

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Wash and pat dry the sweet potato. Add olive oil and salt and use your hands to fully coat the potato in oil.
2. Roast for 35 to 50 mins until you can use a fork to easily puncture the potato. Let it cool for a bit, then cut into 1 inch chunks.
3. If you're roasting the potato right before making the salad, pop the chunks into the fridge or freezer to fully cool before assembling the salad.

Make the farro

1. Cook the farro according to the package. Boil the water with1 tsp of oil and 1/4 tsp of salt in the water to prevent sticking.
2. Once finished cooking, spread out on a plate to cool fully before assembling the salad. This also helps prevent sticking.

Sauté the mushrooms

1. Heat a pan over medium high heat.
2. Wash and pat the mushrooms dry on a towel. Cut the mushrooms into 1/2 inch chunks.
3. Add the olive oil to the hot pan and spread or swirl the pan so the oil fully coats the bottom. Let the oil heat for 20 to 30 seconds to create a barrier between the pan and the food.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Stir the mushrooms every 30 seconds or so until they soften, about 4 to 6 minutes.
5. Salt the mushrooms. Then adjust the salt to taste: Taste a piece to check the flavor. If you can't taste the salt, meaning it tastes bland, add a bit more salt. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool fully before assembling the salad

Roast the pecans

1. Add pecans to a baking sheet. Bake the pecans at 450ºF (or 400ºF if you're not already baking the sweet potato) for about 2 to 3 minutes until you see a little color developing. Be sure to set an alarm because they will burn quickly at this temp.
2. Take out of the oven and let the pecans stay on the pan until fully cooled before assembling the salad

Make the pesto

1. In a blender, nutribullet or small food processor add all of the pesto ingredients. Blend on high until smooth.
2. Adjust the salt to taste. If once you taste the salt, the flavor isn't popping try adding more lemon juice.

Prep remaining ingredients

1. Cut the mini cucumbers into bite size pieces about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Shave the parmesan cheese by putting the block on the cutting board and using your knife to cut down towards the board a little bit at a time.
3. Slice the avocado. Be sure to do this right before assembling and serving the salad.

Assemble the salad

1. If taking this salad to a party and you don't have a seperate container for the dressing, spread the dressing on the bottom of the salad bowl.
2. Add the greens to the salad bowl.
3. Top evenly with the prepared farro, mushrooms, sweet potato, cucumbers, avocado, pickled onion, pecans, and Parmesan cheese