Sunday Night Dinner

My mom and I had a lovely afternoon and evening together.  We went to the mall after lunch and did some Christmas shopping.  I HATE shopping, so we got only the necessary things that we couldn't get online.  For lunch I made a delicious wrap with some of my leftover chicken from last night's dinner.  I took a sundried tomato flat out wrap and spread 1 laughing cow cheese wedge on it.  Then I added some chopped up leftover chicken, baby spinach, leftover corn and red pepper salsa, tomato slices, and a drizzle of wasabi mustard.  YUM!!   I always need something sweet after a meal, so I had a couple of christmas cookies that my mom made and chai tea with almond milk.

We didn't get back from the mall until around 4, so I started prepping dinner soon after we got back.  Like I said in my previous post, my mom and I definitely love to take advantage of nights when it's just me and her because we love to make fun, new recipes with lots of veggies and good, fresh ingredients.  I made a "polenta casserole" from my mom's "Clean Eating" cookbook.  I made a few changes while I was cooking.  Here's the recipe:

1 bunch swiss chard, triple washed and cut into small pieces

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 sprig rosemary, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella)

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Fresh grated nutmeg

1 package instant polenta

Grated pecorino romano (to taste)

About 1/2 cup part skim ricotta

About 1 cup good quality jarred marina, or homemade

In a large, nonstick skillet heat about 2 T. olive oil.  Add the onion, garlic, swiss chard, and rosemary.  Cook until the vegetables are beginning to soften.  Add the mushrooms.  Continue to cook until all of the vegetables are tender.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Set aside.

In a sauce pan prepare polenta according to package directions.  Season with salt & pepper.

Preheat oven to 350.  In a 9x9  baking dish layer about half of the polenta.  Spoon half of the marina on top.  Spoon on half of the vegetable mixture.  Continue with another layer of polenta, vegetables and marina.  Sprinkle on pecorino and dollop a few spoonfuls of ricotta on the top.  Bake covered for 15 minutes.  Continue to bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.  Enjoy! (I added some red pepper flakes to my portion at the end.. mmm)

Here's a picture of the casserole before it went in the oven:

After preparing the casserole, my mom and I opened up my favorite bottle of wine that I haven't had in a year.. Vasse Felix.  I had 2 bottles left and was craving it, so I decided to share one bottle with my mom tonight.  The last bottle will have to be enjoyed on a very very special occassion!! 

We enjoyed our wine by the fireplace :)       In the picture it doesn't look like it's on, but the flash just ruined it!

Then it was time for dinner!!! It was soo good!  We each had 3 helpings! 

For an after dinner treat, my mom took out some mini pretzels and good-quality dark chocolate disks.  We placed one disk on each pretzel and put them in a 350 degree oven for a very short amount of time (prob only a minute and a half- 2 min)-- basically just until the chocolate sets on the pretzel, but is not melting down the sides.

The next step is to put the pretzels in the fridge to set and even freeze them if you like them cold.  But, I couldn't wait to try them.  I started jumping up and down and doing a booty dance because they were so good!  

Yupppp I'm a little weird!  After a few chocolate pretzels, my mom and I decorated our beautiful Christmas tree:

Now time to end the night with a Lifetime Christmas movie!! :)