After cooking in the Google cafeteria, Nate Keller and Mirit Cohen started Gastronaut (gastronautsf.com), a San Francisco catering company that often creates healthy lunches for tech companies. For this salad, Keller uses kamut, an heirloom wheat that has a naturally sweet, buttery flavor. More Salads with Grains
How to Make It
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a small bowl. Using kitchen twine, tie the vanilla bean, carrot and celery halves together. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the kamut and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until toasted, 1 minute. Add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the vegetable bundle and onion halves. Cover partially and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the kamut is just tender, about 1 hour. Drain the kamut and discard the vegetables.
Meanwhile, finely grate the zest of 1 orange into the bowl with the vanilla seeds. Add the shallot and lemon juice. Using a knife, remove the peel and white pith from both oranges. Cut in between the membranes to release the sections into a large bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the small bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 5 tablespoons of oil.
Add the kamut to the orange sections in the large bowl. Stir in the dressing and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the strawberries and spinach and serve.