Gnocchi with Zucchini

After Monday's amazing dinner I was not too sure what direction to go in today so I just started researching. I worked out a little later than usual so I didn't have as much time to search for something and then go buy the food. So a key part of what I was going to cook tonight was the time factor, I was looking for something that took under 30 minutes. I ended up going back to eatingwell.com for this recipe and I decided to make a vegetarian dish tonight. It really didn't require too many ingredients and the active time cooking was relatively fast! Yet again I was a little above 30 minutes but this is something I will improve with practice.

Here is the recipe I went with for night 3:

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh or frozen gnocchi
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium shallots, chopped
• 1 pound zucchini, (about 3 small), very thinly sliced lengthwise (see Tip)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Cook gnocchi until they float, 3 to 5 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter is beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add shallots and zucchini and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, nutmeg and pepper and continue cooking, stirring often, until the tomatoes are just starting to break down, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and parsley. Add the gnocchi and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

3.      Per serving: 424 calories; 10 g fat (6 g sat, 0 g mono); 25 mg cholesterol; 66 g carbohydrates; 17 g protein; 5 g fiber; 753 mg sodium; 539 mg potassium.

4.      Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (75% daily value), Vitamin A (35% dv), Calcium (28% dv)

 I was proud of how nicely I had everything all cut up and prepped so nicely! This is huge improvement for me!

Ok, so here is the actual dish right after I finished it. I learned a good lesson tonight...zucchini cooks fairly fast so if I were to make this dish again I wouldn't put the zucchini in first, it would probably be more towards the end so it would hold its shape better instead of looking like mush. 

I know that the bowl is a mess (still working on presentation!), but here it is when I served it. I did like this dish, however, it was not my favorite. I think I would make it again but I may want to try to alter it in some way but I'm not quite sure how yet. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

So that's it so far, I am all caught up! I am really looking forward to what I will be cooking next and I will be sure to try an keep this blog up to date.