Skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Garbanzo Beans

I haven't always been a healthy eater. I grew up in a meat and potatoes kind of family. Although dinner was always delicious and savory (real soul food if I may), it was not exactly ideal for slimming my waist line. But, as a child, who is really thinking about keeping a flat tummy? I know I wasn't. I'm pretty sure I was more concerned with the latest episode of Gummi Bears and figuring out ways to blame my brothers for my latest shenanigans, which later changed to episodes of 90210 and still figuring out ways to blame my brothers.

Then college rolled around.  College was an eye opener in a lot of respects, but lets just stick to nutrition and save the juicy stuff for another time. I'm pretty sure I just woke up one day looked in the mirror and screamed "Gah!, Crystal you're fat! You need to do something about this TODAY!"

At that point, I was planning on becoming a physician. More than 1/3 of adults are obese (according to the CDC), and really who wants to go to a fat physician and listen to them tell you how your health problems stem from your diet and size, so YOU need to do this, this and this? I hate when the pot calls the kettle black.

Long story short I started to do my homework. I researched healthy diets and exercise plans. I made a lifestyle change. Which brings us to now, 10 years later, ~60lbs thinner.  So, you'll find all kinds of recipes on my blog, but most of them will be on the healthier side. Eating 'clean' seems to be the new fad. I do try to eat that way, but it doesn't always happen. I'm okay with that, and I hope you are too.

Today for dinner I had skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Garbanzo Beans, which I adapted from Eating Well. The recipe is really rather quite lovely and simple.

What you'll need:

1 box potato gnocchi

1 bag of baby spinach

1-15 oz can garlic fire roasted tomatoes

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans or chick peas

1/2 c water

1/2 handful grated mozzarella cheese

1 handful Parmesan cheese

1 medium onion, sliced

garlic, minced (as much as you want)

salt/pepper

I'm obviously missing a few ingredients in the above photo. Also, don't hate, but I didn't have any fresh Parmesan and only the cheap version of extra virgin olive oil.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and dump in your box of potato gnocchi. I'm sure cheese filled gnocchi would be just as yummy. Saute until they plump and start to brown, as shown.

Remove the gnocchi and add a little more of the olive oil (about a tsp) and the sliced onions. Saute for about 2 mins. Then add the 1/2 c water and garlic. Cover and cook for about 4 mins. or until the onions are soft. I love the smell of sauteed onions and garlic. I used 4 medium sized cloves in this recipe, but only you know your own tastes. Also, I generally season every layer. So, I added some salt and pepper here and then again when I added the other ingredients.

Add the bag of spinach and cook for 2 mins. Spinach is ~91% water so it starts out looking like this.

And ends up looking like this! But stuffed full of antioxidants and cancer-fighting benefits, it's a must in your diet.

 Add the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (Any kind will do, I just like the extra heat from the fire roasted ones). Add the can of garbanzo beans or chick peas (Again, any sort of bean will do. These just happen to be my favorite). Let simmer for 5 mins. At this point you can add the cheese, a handful of mozzarella and 1/2 handful of Parmesan. I rarely measure things when I cook, especially cheese. Cooking is more art than science, where baking is more science than art. So, for this recipe, do as you generally did in art class, add a little here, add a little there. Taste. Remember, you can always add more, you rarely can take out.

Voila! You have this little potato filled delight. This recipe makes about 6 servings, with about 325 calories/serving. Enjoy!