Trader Joe's Cauliflower Gnocchi

I was that random kid that liked her vegetables.

Granted I wasn't open to ALL veggies and fruits - that was more my brother - but I liked most.

But when I think back on my childhood, I had been presented with the basics: apples, pears, bananas, oranges, lettuce, carrots, etc. There were more exotic types of things when I was older - such as mango and rhubarb - but there were so many more fruits and vegetables that I didn't know of (or try) until I was older... or had dinner at a friends house.

I think cauliflower was always on my radar. I've always been a curious person, and I'd see a lot of things during my many trips to the grocery store with my mother - most we never bought since my mother usually stuck to staple vegetables like carrots, onions, etc. I remember seeing cauliflower which I thought looked rather similar to broccoli.

It wasn't until I was older that I had cauliflower - mostly as a side vegetable dish or mixed in with other vegetables. By now, I've tried cauliflower rice, cauliflower crust for pizza... I've even made veggie tacos with seasoned and roasted cauliflower florets. Cauliflower is like tofu where it alone doesn't have a lot of flavor, but you can mix it with other things, and it'll soak up the flavor of the dish.

So as mentioned in my Kale Gnocchi post, I first found out about Cauliflower Gnocchi via YouTube. The gnocchi looked like white tater tots and was good on its own, but I added seasonings and cheese to mine... so it was extra yummy.

It's quite a versatile item. I have since bought more from Trader Joe's and have plans for different ways to prep it. Thinking about it now though - I'm leaning toward cheese... maybe an alfredo sauce or something... or some cut up chicken or sausage.

The bag is 12oz and contains 2.5 servings - each serving being about a cup and 140 calories. (Again, my math reminds me that a cup is 8oz, right? I'm assuming they mean the cooked result is more?)

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/cauliflower-gnocchi

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Trader Joe's Creamy Polenta (with Spinach & Carrots)

The first time I had polenta was at Chevy's. They had them as a side with their plates. The polenta was this corn mash that still had corn kernels in it. And it was lightly sweet.

[That random factoid about how corn doesn't break down in your stomach just came to mind. Does that apply to the mashed stuff, too? Or is it just kernels?]

Okay - back to the creamy polenta.

When I went to Trader Joe's to get something else, I found this as well, and since I like polenta (and haven't had much luck with a couple other kinds/brands), I thought I'd give this one a try.

The bag gives you the option to cook the contents either in a microwave or saucepan. (I chose saucepan.)

The bag itself feels relatively light, and when I poured the contents into the pan, the carrots looked like carrots and the spinach looked like spinach, but the polenta... looked like meringue cookies. They were like little dollops of whipped cream with stiff peaks. (Yeah, I watch a lot of cooking shows.)

I cooked the polenta as the package said to - for about five to seven minutes - and after a few minutes, the little "meringue-like" polenta pieces started to soften, and then everything started mixing together. This time I only ate about half of the polenta and save the rest for later. The first taste was just perfect - I think however they seasoned it was just fine since all I added was a bit of was salt and pepper. It's light and tasty and pleasantly filling. Later I had the leftovers with a couple fried eggs on top. Not bad at all.

I liked it so much, I went back to the store to get more.

The bag is 16oz. It says that a serving size is one cup, and there are about three servings in this bag. (Isn't one cup equal to eight ounces?)

I can't find this polenta on the Trader Joe's website so it's either being discontinued or their site person hasn't put it up... so I just added the store's website to this post.

https://www.traderjoes.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Trader Joe's Kale Gnocchi

Yes. I am one of those people that actually likes kale.

It's been around for a while since it's a leafy green of the mustard family (and I like mustard, so...). There are various strains - of which I've tried whatever I can get my hands on at stores - but overall, I enjoy kale.

I've mixed it in smoothies, in salads, in pasta... and Whole Foods has brought back Garlicky Kale! Color me ECSTATIC!

Back to the star of this post...

I surf a lot of YouTube as well as watch videos from people I subscribe to.

With that said, this is where I heard/saw Trader Joe's Cauliflower Gnocchi. I kept meaning to go and get some but work and life kept getting in the way so I didn't get any until recently. When I found the cauliflower gnocchi, next to it was the kale gnocchi.

I got both.

One night for dinner I decided to make some gnocchi. I had originally intended to grab the cauliflower bag since it was the first one I knew about, but I ended up grabbing the kale instead.

The directions are quite simple - you can choose from the saute or boiling water method. I sauteed since I was hungry.

When I opened the bag, the gnocchi looked like little green tater tots to me. Also, there was no pasta-type covering. (Being a fan of pasta - my favorite being tortellini - I was expecting either a pasta outer shell of some kind or maybe some faux, veggie version. The ingredients on the back list as: kale, potato starch, chickpea flour, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil. [May contain soy.]) I'm guessing it's the flour that helped bind everything together into their tater tot form.

The sauteeing directions were to heat a couple tablespoons of butter, oil or ghee (I have yet to work with ghee. Anyone use ghee? What's it like?) over medium heat, add the gnocchi, heat for 7-10 minutes, and season to taste.

I made my gnocchi with Trader Joe's seasoning - perhaps a little 21 Seasoning Salute and Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend - as well as some sweet chili sauce and some shredded cheese. (And yes, it may have been an odd blend of flavors, but it was yummy and made me and my tummy happy.)

One 12oz bag contains about 2.5 servings... leaving on serving to be a cup. (Yeah - I ate the whole bag. I hadn't really eaten that day, but I don't really need to justify this to anyone so... there's that.)

Did I like it? Hell, I went back and got two more bags!

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/kale-gnocchi

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae