Christmas Dinner

Dinner was casual as usual. I realized today that I need to buy some nice serving bowls. I mean, we don't have much company but I think it would be nice to eat things I've worked hard to prepare on nice dishes. But that will have to wait until after the summer. I don't want to buy things to just put in storage (plus I'm trying to rent only a smaller unit).

I made most of dinner yesterday which was wise. I was so tired today that I ended up taking a two hour nap, and then my mom made a surprise visit. All I had to do was pop the cheese enchiladas into the oven and heat up the soup. The only "cooking" was assembling the salad.

First, the soup. It was very good. I modified a recipe I found online. Actually I basically remade the recipe. Here's my version:

Black Bean and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2tsps. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4tsp. coriander

1/2 cup shredded carrot

4 med. red potatoes

4 cups vegetable broth plus 2 cups water (I don't care for the taste of too much broth)

1 cup corn (I used frozen organic)

1Tbsp. fresh cilantro

opt: a dollop of sour cream

Directions: Warm olive oil in a large sauce pan over low med. heat. Turn up the heat, add the onions and garlic and saute until soft. Add carrots, cumin , coriander and a little water (to keep carrots from sticking to the pan). Simmer for about 7 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Add corn. Bring to another boil. Lower heat, and cover pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with coriander and sour cream.

The soup was a nice combo of comforting and spicy. It was perfect with the enchiladas which were a tad blah. I did combine coriander and cumin with the cottage cheese but it was still blah. The salad was great. The dressing was tangy, and the pomegranates were a perfect touch. I used sliced almonds instead of pumpkin seed kernels.