Spelt salad with chickpeas and zucchini

A very simple, but valuable dish from nutritional point of view is what I'm sharing with you today. One of my favourite summer meals. Ok, I know, summer is nothing but a vague memory by now (at least where I live)... but I like to prepare this any time of the year. Especially suitable for someone who, like me, is a busy mom of a 14-month old baby, often eating quick meals and not always warm ones.
This salad, prepared with spelt, chickpeas and vegetables is a great solution. It can be prepared in advance. You can put it in your lunch box to take to work. It will not only provide you with a complete meal, with carbs, proteins, vegetables, but it will make you feel full for several hours without making you feel heavy or sleepy. Lots of pluses and reasons why you should give it a go.
The great thing is that you can also vary the vegetables you add. For example, you can substitute the zucchini (or simply add ) some grilled eggplants or roasted bell peppers, or oven roasted cauliflower and broccoli. Create your favourite combination or choose a different one every time.

As I've said many times, chickpeas are my favourite legumes. I used to buy canned ones, but often had probles with quantities and leftovers etc. So I started buying dried chickpeas and cooking them at home. It's really easy and they taste better, too. And I'm sure there's nothing else added.
If you have never cooked dried chickpeas at home, here's how to do it: First soak the dried chickpeas in a large bowl (at least twice as big as the initial quantity of dried chickpeas) with lukewarm/cold water, for at least 12 (to 24) hours. Drain them, put them in a pot and add fresh water. Cook them for about 2 hours. Let them cool, then drain and they are ready to be used in any recipe. I usually portion them and freeze, because I never cook less than 500 g dried chickpeas, that become almost 1 kg once they are cooked.
For more chickpeas recipes, click HERE.

Spelt salad with chickpeas and zucchini

* 320 g pearld spelt (farro)
* 240 g precooked chickpeas
* 500 g zucchini
* 300 g cherry tomatoes
 * fresh basil and thyme
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper
* 1 clove of garlic

Cook the spelt in a pot with slightly salted water for about 40 minutes. Drain it and set aside to cool. Season it with 2 TBspoons of extra virgin olive oil and fresh thyme.
Wash and dry the zucchini, cut both ends off and shred them or cut into small sticks.
Heat 2 TBspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a deep skillet, add a whole garlic clove and the shredded zucchini. Stirfry the zucchini for about 10 minutes until they start getting soft.
Add the precooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed if using the canned ones). Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly and adding a couple TBspoons of warm water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Set them aside to cool a little bit.
Cut the cherry tomatoes into wedges and season them with a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil, salt and finely chopped basil leaves.
In a large salad bowl, mix everything together, the spelt, the zucchini with chickpeas, and the cherry tomatoes, and serve.

Insalata di farro con ceci e zucchine

* 320 g di farro perlato
* 240 g di ceci cotti
* 500 g di zucchine
* 300 g di pomodorini
 * basilico e timo freschi
* olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale
* 1 spicchio d'aglio

Mettete a cuocere il farro in una pentola con l'acqua leggermente salata per 40 minuti.
Scolatelo e lasciatelo raffreddare.
Aggiungete al farro 2 cucchiai di olio extra vergine d'oliva e le foglioline di timo.
Lavate e spuntate le zucchine, grattugiatele con una grattugia con fori grossi oppure tagliate a bastoncini piccoli.
Scaldate 2 cucchiai d'olio EVO in una padella. Unite lo spicchio intero di aglio e le zucchine e saltatele a fuoco medio per 10 minuti mescolando spesso.
Unite i ceci (scolati, se usate quelli in scatola), coprite,  abbassate la fiamma al minimo e continuate la cottura per altri 10 minuti aggiungendo, se necessario, qualche cucchiaio d'acqua calda. Condite a piacere con sale e pepe.
Lasciate che le zucchine si raffreddino un po'.
Tagliate i pomodorini a spicchi. Conditeli con uno o due cucchiai di olio EVO, sale e le foglie di basilico sminuzzate.
Mescolate in un'insalatiera il farro, le zucchine con i ceci e i pomodorini. Mescolate e servite.

Salata od pira sa slanutkom i tikvicama

* 320 g pira
* 240 g kuhanog slanutka
* 500 g tikvica
* 300 g cherry rajčica
 * bosiljak, timijan
* maslinovo ulje
* sol i papar
* 1 češanj bijelog luka

Stavite pir kuhati u malo posoljenoj vodi oko 40 minuta. Ocijedite ga i ostavite da se ohladi.
Dodajte mu 2 žlice maslinovog ulja i listiće timijana.
Tikvice operite, odrežite im krajeve i naribajte ih na krupni ribež ili ih narežite na štapiće.
Zagrijte u tavi 2 žlice maslinovog ulja. Dodajte cijeli češnjak i tikvice pa pirjajte par minuta na srednje jakoj vatri miješajući.
Dodajte zatim slanutak i nastavite pirjati na najnižoj vatri pokriveno oko 10 minuta (ako je potrebno dodajte par žlica tople vode). Posolite i popaprite po ukusu.
Ostavite da se prohladi.
Rajčice narežite na kriškice. Dodajte im žlicu-dvije maslinovog ulja, sol i sitno nasjeckane listiće bosiljka.
U većoj zdjeli pomiješajte sve, pir, tikvice sa slanutkom i rajčice, i poslužite.