Colour a grey winter day

Am I going crazy? It's snowing again, and here I am, posting this dish that looks more like a refreshing summer salad. No, no, I'm not nuts, I just need some colours in my life to contrast the grey skies outside. Helps me dream of spring or summer, why not?
A real explosion of colours and flavours on my plate, and yet something so light that I don't feel like falling asleep after lunch, like a bear, wishing I could hibernate till spring.

I actually made this a couple days ago, but the weather's been the same for more than a week, actually, I don't even remember seeing sun this year :))), the only difference is that the scenary from grey turned white.

I had a pleasant surprise on Bakespace yesterday (and today still) when I saw that my recipe, this recipe, was chosen as the recipe of the day. Wow, first time ever, and it made me so happy. Thanks, Babs!

I've decided it's time I discovered some new cereals and ways of cooking them. I don't want to stick to the same things all my life. So, slowly and steadily, I'll be sharing my experiences with you.
The first victim of my exploration - Kamut. It's an ancient type of wheat, rich in Selenium, Zinc, Magnesium, vitamins E, A and C, but also high energy wheat, ideal for people who do sports and/or have busy lives and need more energy. In about 70 % of cases, people allergic to wheat have reported to tolerate kamut very well. However, it does contain gluten, so it is, unfortunately, not suitable for people suffering from celiac disease. There's much more information on the site I linked if you're interested. Including some recipes, that I'd like to check as well.
This dish was something totally improvised, I just wanted to make something with kamut, opened my fridge, and threw some stuff I found in there into a skillet, added some frozen peas, and the game was done, in less than 20 minutes really.

KAMUT AND VEGETABLES SALAD

160-200 g kamut (I used quick cooking)
1 leek
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
100 g peas (frozen)
2 TBspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cook the kamut according to directions (approx.: 10 minutes for quick cooking, 50 mins for regular).

Clean, wash and dry all the vegetables. Slice the leek, cut the pepper into cubes, cut the zucchini into slices or sticks.
Saute all the vegetables in a deep skillet or wok with 2 TBspoons of olive oil for about 10 minutes.
Add the cooked and drained kamut, toss shortly together for flavours to mix. Season to your taste and serve warm or cold if you prefer it that way.

Serve alone, with meat or if you prefer cheese, I suggest to mix some fresh, low fat cheese with Greek yogurt, a little salt and chive. I loved the combo.



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Da un po' di tempo avevo intenzione di comprare e di usare in cucina il Kamut. Finalmente, eccolo qua.
Kamut è un antenato di grano duro, più ricco di minerali e proteine rispetto il frumento moderno. Si presta molto bene alla coltivazione biologica senza uso di insetticidi e pesticidi. Ricco di minerali come Selenio, Zinco, Magnesio, Vitamine A, E e C.
Potete leggere di più su questo cereale andando sul sito che vi ho linkato all'inizio, incluse alcune ricette.
Questo piatto così colorato è nato per caso, in giro di 15-20 minuti, buttando in padella quello che ho trovato nel frigo. Ho mangiato questa insalata ancora tiepida, ma penso che ugualmente buona fredda.

INSALATA DI KAMUT E VERDURE

160-200 g kamut (il mio era a cottura rapida)
1 porro
1 zucchina
1 peperone rosso
100 g piselli (surgelati)
2 cucchiai di olio EVO

Fate cuocere il kamut secondo le istruzioni sulla confezione (io ho usato quello a cottura rapida, quindi 10 minuti).
Pulite, lavate e asciugate le verdure. Tagliate i porri a rondelle, il peperone a quadratini, la zucchina a bastoncini (o rondelle).
Saltate tutte le verdure (i piselli ancora surgelati) con l'olio EVO per circa 10 minuti mescolando spesso.
Scollate il kamut e aggiungetelo alle verdure. Saltate tutto insieme per qualche minuto.
Servite questo piatto a piacere, caldo, tiepido o freddo.
Io l'ho accompagnato con un po' di fiocchi di latte mescolati con lo yogurt greco e qualche stello di erba cipollina.

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KAMUT je vrsta pradavne pšenice, dugo zaboravljena, a sad ponovno otkrivena. Pogodna je za biološki uzgoj, bez uporabe insekticida i pesticida. Ima značajne hranjive vrijednosti, sadrži selenij, cink, magnezij, vitamine E, A i C. U 70 % slučajeva osobe alergične na pšenicu, manje su osjetljive na ovu žitaricu.
U zrnu se koristi za izradu jela poput “rižota”, salata ili se može dodati u juhe. Brašno se također koristi za izradu kruha, peciva, kolača.

SALATA OD KAMUTA I POVRĆA

160-200 g kamuta (u mom slučaju brzokuhajući)
1 poriluk
1 tikvica
1 paprika (crvena ili druge)
100 g graška (smrznutog)
2 žlice maslinovog ulja

Skuhajte kamut prema uputama (budući da sam ja imala brzokuhajući dovoljno mu je 10 minuta, onaj normalni ako se ne varam oko 50 minuta).
Zagrijte 2 žlice maslinovog ulja u dubljoj tavi. Dodajte povrće (poriluk narezan na kolutiće, papriku na kockice, tikvice na kolutiće ili štapiće, i neodmrznuti grašak, i/ili sve drugo povrće po želji).
Uz miješanje izdinstajte sve oko 10 minuta, posolite i dodajte skuhan i ocijeđen kamut. Još kratko sve skupa izdinstajte da se okusi spoje i prožmu.
Poslužite toplo, mlako, hladno, kako vam najviše odgovara.

And this is not a UFO attack, it's just snowflakes :)))