Another cook in the house…

Although I tend to write about MY cooking and ignore everybody else’s, I am not in fact the ONLY person in my household to do any cooking, although I do do the majority of it. My eternal other, Jan, is a kick-ass cook in her own right and she reminded us all of it yesterday. I had taken the kids swimming and was expecting garlic pasta (recipe another time), some kind of meat and maybe greens for supper – always a great meal and a true standby in our family. Instead I opened the door and smelled bacon. But wait, those were beet greens on the stove and further smells were intruding. To cut to the chase, we had the following: gnocchi in a herbed goat cheese and parmesan sauce, topped with wilted beet greens and arugula with crumbled bacon and a side dish of mixed roasted beets, summer squash, butternut squash and onions. Yowza!

Today just the gnocchi con goat cheese, greens and bacon.

Gnocchi with goat cheese, parmesan, wilted greens and bacon

Put on a big pot of water to boil. In the meantime top and wash the beet greens and chop up into small pieces. In a frying pan, carefully cook the bacon, remove, drain on paper towels and pour of the grease. Without cleaning the pan, put it back on the heat and toss in the beet green stems. Wait a minute and add the beet greens themselves. Wait another minute and toss in the arugula. As everything starts to wilt ad about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Turn off the heat and put aside. When the water boils, salt it a little and add the gnocchi (about a pound). I use packaged gnocchi that cook in about three minutes. Once cooked, drain and return to the pot with about a quarter cup of milk. Add about four ounces of goat cheese. I used herbed goat cheese but plain would be fine. Stir thoroughly until milk and cheese have melted into a coating over all the gnocchi. Add about two tablespoons of grated parmesan and stir that in thoroughly as well. Serve up the gnocchi with greens on top and then crumble the bacon over it all.