Putting on the brakes...

OK, OK...so remember yesterday when I was all like "Can you believe we didn't want to order pizza??"

Yeah...around 3:30pm on Monday afternoon, that whimsical feeling of 'nah, I don't even want it' passed with a VENGEANCE and I COULD. NOT stop thinking about...well, not pizza, but FRENCH FRIES.  Hot, salty FRENCH FRIES.  Now I'm ALL about giving into the occasional craving, but coming off a weekend of cinnamon buns, pie & THANKSGIVING dinner and I knew there are just some times where you have to put the breaks on.  That being said...that doesn't mean it didn't PISS ME OFF to have to say "NO."  If Scott had batted ONE eyelash towards 'maybe'...I would have probably been on that phone ordering french fries (with cheese, for good measure!) in a heartbeat.

And I tell you all of this because if dinner hadn't been an absolute HOME RUN, the rest of my night would have been spent in an oblivion of salt-craving anger.  Mostly directed at Scott...cause that's just how it goesJ  (sorry, Scott!J)  But THANKFULLY...this dinner was SOOOOOOOOOOOO good that it spared Scott a night of sulking and finger pointingJ hahahhahahaa....

And BELIEVE ME: I did NOT think a recipe called Gnocchi with Squash & Kale was going to be the thing to pull me out of my 'french fry tunnel vision'.  But by some miraculous feat...it was!  And I'll tell you why:  Cause it was SO. DAMN. GOOD!!!!!!!

And what made this recipe even MORE awesome?  It was all made in ONE POT!  (which basically means it wasn't a Rachel Ray recipe...who requires you to use just about every pot in your arsenal to cook up a full meal in 30 minutesJ) 

Anyways....so into the ONE POT goes a tablespoon of butter & a small peeled and diced butternut squash.  You let that cook until it becomes tender & golden brown...around 10 minutes on medium heat...

Then it was time to add the 'aromatics'...and this just happened to be two of my FAVORITES:  Garlic & SAGE!!!  swooooooon.... 

Add both of those to the squash and let them cook for about 2 minutes...all while taking in the absolute intoxicating aromasJ   

Next, you add 1 1/4 cups of chicken broth and bring it to a simmer before adding in your kale.  You can either use a fresh, diced up bunch and let it wilt down OR you can just break out a bag of frozen kale and let it defrost right in the chicken broth for a few minutes!

Once the kale is wilted or defrosted, you add in your gnocchi... 

Make sure all of the gnocchi are somewhat in the chicken broth, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes or until the gnocchi are tender.  

I REALLY didn't think this would work, since it seemed there wasn't enough chicken broth to cook the whole pack of gnocchi...but once I lifted the lid, they were cooked to perfection.

Finally, you stir in 1/4 cup of grated cheese & 1 tablespoon of butter before topping with another sprinkle of grated cheese  and popping it in the broiler to toast up for a few minutes... 

Like I said:  ABSOLUTE KNOCKOUT!!!!!!  All of the starches from the gnocchi & squash combined with the chicken broth and cheese made an absolutely luscious sauce and everything just melted into a pool of flavorful comfort food.... 

This was one dish where I just WISH you could almost 'hide' the kale...because if it wasn't for its PROMINENT green leaves...I'm TELLING YOU:  You could get this by even the PICKIEST of eaters.  The sauce just blanketed all of the veggies and made them all 'perfectly hidden,' yet so very healthy.  This was an awesome & quick meal...OH, and by my estimation, thanks to the farmer's market & Trader Joe's: it cost about $5 to make!  Couldn't even order cheese fries for ONE for that cheapJ hahahahahhahaa.... 

So anyways...that's all I got for you today.  We'll see what today brings on the 'cravings horizon'...however, there ARE potatoes in my near future today, so hopefully that will help 'tide me over' againJ  hahahahhaa...

Have a great Tuesday, everyoneJ