Nutrition Center employees prepare grilled chicken pita meals to be distributed to students fasting during Ramadan at the St. Paul Public Schools Central Kitchen. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
In St. Paul, parents and district leaders, including Adam of East African Magnet School, met to brainstorm take-home options, and a survey then was circulated that found sambusas, fresh fruits, and yes, Italian dunkers, among the favorites listed by 343 students who responded.
Gbolo and his team then took over to determine which dishes had the best take-home capability, and discovered, in one example, that the lamb and beef in traditional gyros tended to dry out when reheated. Chicken, thus, became the choice.
A dish unique to the Ramadan meals program — a Mediterranean bowl with falafel, coucous, diced cucumber and hummus, among other ingredients — also was created. As a result, four of the 10 items on the program’s lunch menu are vegetarian.
“The kids are going to be the judge,” Gbolo said.
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