Christmas eve dinner

Last year we spent Christmas with my in-laws up in Pretoria. I offered to cook us a Christmas eve dinner at Grandpa Joe’s house. I decided to go all out – downloaded loads of cheesy Christmas carols, printed out carol booklets for us to do our own signing, got bible verses ready to be read, dug out all grandpa’s ‘good’ tableware, lit candles everywhere, prepared a center piece and the whole nine yards.

For the meal I served individually plated salads as a starter. Nothing too complex just a bed a baby leaves, red and yellow peppers, avo, baby corn, pan fried mushrooms, cashew nuts and balsamic reduction as a dressing.

The main course and dessert were inspired by the Fresh Living Magazine Christmas booklet, which I had read during the road trip up. Grilled salmon with gremolata, crispy roast potatoes and blanched asparagus with capers, olive tapenade and cherry tomatoes as the side veg. It was delicious! Such a winning combo! Perfect for a dinner party any time of the year.

For dessert I made the Christmas pudding cheese cake from Fresh Living – I tweaked it a little to make it sugar and gluten free… oh my word was it delicious! That is so going to become a staple in my Christmas repertoire from now on. What a fabulous idea!