Easy dinner - potato gnocci with balsamic mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

I haven't posted any interesting recipes here recently, for the simple reason that I've started some corrective measures in my diet. I am more than happy to talk about eating healthier and loosing a few pounds in the process if anyone's interested, but for now, there is one recipe I tried and absolutely loved.

 

Potato Gnocchi (salad) with balsamic mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

It's again a recipe that looks and sounds rather impressive, but is super easy to make. This one, I'm proud to say, I came up with myself. Often I find recipes online that I like and make my own version of them, but this one came from to fruition simply I really felt like having gnocchi but didn't want to do my usual recipe of gnocchi in tomato sauce. To make this version, you'll need

Package of potato gnocchi
Sun-dried tomatoes (to make them at home, try this recipe)
Mushrooms (balsamic vinegar and salt for cooking)
Green onion

Dressing
Lemon juice
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Please note that you could add anything you like in the dish. I'm thinking fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese would be amazing.

Start by frying the mushrooms. I have one specific way of cooking mushrooms and I use it all the time.


Basically quarter the mushrooms and start frying them on medium heat with a little bit of oil. After a while the mushrooms start releasing the liquid. Sprinkle them with a little bit of salt and cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, then drizzle them with a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Cook for a few more minutes so that all of the vinegar has been absorbed by the mushrooms. The results are amazing and so much better than plain ol' mushrooms. I fry up mushrooms like this for a lot of different recipes, I just find it adds a little extra.

While the mushrooms are frying, cook the gnocchi. It's very easy. Bring a pot of well-salted water to boil. Dump in gnocchi. They are ready once they gnocchi floats to the surface. This won't take more than 5 minutes. Prepare the dressing by combining equal amounts lemon juice and balsamic vinegar, half of that of olive oil (for example, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil), add a little salt and fresh pepper.

Combine the gnocchi, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and dressing. Mix together and sprinkle with finely chopped green onion.

I actually served this room temperature as a posh-sounding potato salad, instead of hot, but it works both ways.

Enjoy!