Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with colcannon

March 11, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

By CINDY SUTTER

Once again St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, and once again vegetarians look for something good to eat.

With corned beef and cabbage and lamb stew everywhere, it seems like the day is about as vegetarian-averse as any holiday this side of Thanksgiving.

The trick is to keep in mind the peasant-y part of Irish eating. Remember potatoes? And then there’s cabbage or kale. Yes, I’m talking about colcannon, a dish about as basic as you can get.

Yet it can be peculiarly satisfying even to a revved-up vegetarian palate accustomed to such worldly tastes as Sriracha sauce or harissa.

First, find some good potatoes. If you don’t eat organic normally, you will be surprised how much better organic potatoes taste than conventionally grown spuds do. Then get a different variety of kale from what you might find in the grocery store — red kale, perhaps, even delicious lacinato.

This recipe from Rachael Ray is nice because it’s not as butter-heavy as some. An America’s Test Kitchen colcannon recipe, for example, has 9 tablespoons of butter and half-and-half. It’s no doubt tasty, just a bit over the top for many people’s lifestyles.

And then there’s this: You might want to eat your butter — get the luscious, creamy stuff from Ireland at a natural-foods store — slathered over home-baked Irish soda bread. Raise a glass of Guinness, and finish off this rib-sticking meal with a tot of good Irish whiskey. Now that’s celebrating.

COLCANNON

4 medium-to-large all-purpose potatoes, such as Russet, peeled and cut into chunks

Coarse salt, for boiling water

2 cups vegetable stock

1 head dark curly kale, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

3‚Ñ4 cup whole milk

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, fresh or grated

1 teaspoon ground thyme

2 scallions, sliced

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Boil potatoes for 15 minutes in salted water. Drain potatoes and return them to the hot pot and mash.

Heat broth to a simmer. Chop kale leaves, discarding tough stems. Add kale to broth and cover. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes.

In a large skillet over moderate heat, melt butter and add milk. Season with nutmeg and thyme and add scallions to the pan. Remove kale from cooking liquid to the milk-and-butter mixture using a slotted spoon. Stir in 1‚Ñ2 cup of cooking liquid. Add mashed potatoes to milk and kale and stir until combined and creamy, 1 or 2 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Adapted from Rachael Ray, www.foodnetwork.com