Welcome to week 5 of the Cooking Up Kindness Project. Check out my introduction to Cooking Up Kindness to discover what this project is about. This week’s meal is:
Roasted Sheet Pan Gnocchi
This meal includes gluten free cauliflower gnocchi roasted with broccoli, onions, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes in an aromatic spice blend and topped with feta cheese. A crusty organic baguette and organic butter round out this meal. The meal is vegetarian and gluten free if the bread used is gluten free. This warm and comforting dish has a great blend of flavors and is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, those free-radical fighting compounds that protect our cells from damage.
Onions and garlic are very healing foods abundant in quercetin and allicin, two powerful antioxidants that are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergy, and antifungal, and protect the heart and brain. The tomatoes and bell peppers bring the antioxidants lycopene, lutein, capsanthin, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin into the mix and benefit the immune system, eyes, skin, and heart. Broccoli is an amazing vegetable that contains sulforaphane and several polyphenols, antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer. In addition, the veggies contain a bevy of vitamins and minerals essential for health.
The shopping list for this week’s meal can be found here.
The beauty of this meal is that you make the whole thing in a sheet pan. Lining the sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper ensures that the veggies don’t stick and makes the clean up a breeze.The Roasted Sheet Pan Gnocchi recipe can be found here. Buy gluten free or regular bread (or make your own) and include a little butter to accompany gnocchi. An organic, gluten free loaf would be ideal, but honestly, it’s difficult to find a really good organic gluten free bread. Do what you can. If you choose a gluten containing gnocchi and/or bread, be sure to state that the meal is not gluten free.
Assembling the meal to gift
As this is a one-pan meal, there’s no assembly required. I use an aluminum pan covered in foil for the gnocchi and wrap the bread in foil. Then tuck the butter in a bag or small repurposed container. Put all of the meal components in a bag or box. Attach a note telling the recipient the meal contents and how to heat and serve it. My note will look something like this:
Roasted Sheet Pan Gnocchi
This meal includes cauliflower gnocchi, broccoli, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic roasted with spices and feta cheese. Served with a side of crusty bread and butter. Warm the meal for about 10 minutes in the oven. Enjoy!
Notes and suggestions:
- Avoid using bleached parchment paper. It may contain residuals from the bleaching process and PFAs, those man-made “forever chemicals” that contribute to a laundry list of health issues including cancer, liver disease, and hormone disruption.
- Use organic butter from grass fed cows to get the best of dairy and leave the pesticides, gmos, and hormones out of the meal.
- I found a frozen cauliflower gnocchi that I love at Trader Joes. You can use another frozen version of gnocchi or a shelf stable one or even make your own, just note that most gnocchi is made with wheat flour. If using fresh gnocchi, you may want to decrease the cooking time by several minutes.
- Using organic vegetables is best to avoid GMOs and pesticides. Bell peppers always seem to make an appearance on the EWG Dirty Dozen list.
- Again, do what you can. Just making the meal is a wonderful act service for someone even if that someone is yourself.
Now for Gifting the meal:
When I am ready to post the meal, my message on Buy Nothing looks something like this accompanied by a photo of the meal:
Hey Buy Nothing Community, once again for Lent this year I would like to offer one healthy nutritious meal each week to someone who could use it. I was hoping you could help me find some hungry takers. If you or someone you know could use a meal, pm me. I would be happy to deliver it. I’ll try to have it made by the middle of each week.
This week I am offering Roasted Sheet Pan Gnocchi. It includes gluten free cauliflower gnocchi roasted with broccoli, onions, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes in an aromatic spice blend and topped with feta cheese. It is served with a side of crusty bread and butter. This nutrient-packed meal is vegetarian and can be made gluten free upon request. It is made with all natural ingredients, most of which are organic. I do not have a strictly gluten free kitchen but I am really careful about cross contamination.
Feel free to use the photos from my recipe if needed.
Thank you for joining me in this endeavor to spread a little kindness in our world.
I hope you enjoy making and gifting this meal. Please share any positive feedback you get when you gift your meal. I would love to hear it! Also, reach out to me with any questions or comments.
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