Okay, I was a little frightened. See, I'm Irish, and it's pretty obvious from the countless freckles and curly reddish hair and beard, so there was no getting around this one. As the husband of the host, and a restaurant owner, I have some expectations to live up to, and Irish food isn't exactly renowned in the culinary world. To make things even more difficult, it's an unspoken rule in our home that the food prepared in our kitchen meet a certain level of healthiness, so bangers and mash or fish n chips were out of the question.
I began opening up recipe books and scouring the internet for some traditional Irish fare that would stand up to most discerning health nut out there. The internet proved that for most people, "Irish" food consisted of adding Guinness or whiskey to whatever they're cooking and slapping the word Irish in front of the title. Not only is that far from traditional Irish cuisine, but anyone hailing from the emerald isle wouldn't dare waste good drinkable liquor on cooking.
In my quest for healthy Irish food, I stumbled upon a recipe for colcannon. I initially disregarded the possibility of it because it was too simple. It sounded like mashed potatoes with some cabbage added. But then saw that some more modern Irish chefs were substituting kale for the traditional cabbage. Jackpot. I know from reading countless articles and books on diet and nutrition that kale is one of those "super foods". In its raw state, kale is amazingly high in antioxidants, dietary fiber, and vitamins A, C, B6, manganese, calcium, copper, and potassium!
So I experimented around a little and found that not only could kale be used to make colcannon, but it was actually really tasty! This is a great way to sneak in a super healthy vegetable for someone who generally doesn't like their greens. The kale doesn't even need to be cooked, so it retains virtually all of the nutrients and minerals. Here's the details...
Colcannon
makes 4 large servings
Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 bunch leeks
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
crumbled bacon (if desired)
Directions-
1. Rinse the potatoes and place them in a pot of salted water so they are completely covered. Put on high heat and boil for about 45 minutes until they are soft. (I leave the skins on because they contain extra nutrients and minerals, you can remove them if you don't like them)
2. While the spuds are boiling, rinse the kale and onions.
4. Shred the kale. As you are doing this, remove the ribs from the center of the leaf. You can also use a food processor for this step if you have a big one or don't mind doing it in lots of small batches. I prefer to use the knife. Set kale aside, it will be added to the potatoes last.
5. Melt the butter in a medium sized sauce pan over low heat. Add the leeks, turn the heat up to medium and saute for 3 or so minutes till the leeks are soft. Add the milk, season with 1/2 tablespoon sea salt and a pinch of black pepper, bring to a simmer and then turn off the heat. You will add this to the potatoes when you mash them.
6. When potatoes are done, drain water, place potatoes back in the pot and place the entire pot in a hot oven for 10 minutes. (this is a secret for making light and fluffy mashed potatoes, so the only liquid in them is the milk and butter, not heavy water!)
7. Remove pan from oven (careful, it's hot!) and add milk mixture and kale and mash by hand until there are no lumps, unless you like lumps, then stop mashing when the colcannon reaches your desired consistency.
8. Garnish with bacon if desired (I used green onions and didn't feel it was lacking anything)
*Tip- If you are pressed for time, you can cut the potatoes into 1" cubes prior to boiling and it should only take 10-15 minutes to cook them.
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