Colcannon [Sweet] Potatoes

Both Hali and Mom have been telling me about colcannon potatoes. How is the world have I never heard of this recipe? My image of myself as the cabbage queen is now completely dashed and I am scrambling for new cabbage-licious recipes.

Since I had 3 pounds of sweet potatoes that have been looking at me I used them instead of regular potatoes. It is absolutely F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. The best thing about it is that it is a simple, earthy, delicious, wholesome meal.

Colcannon Potatoes

3 lbs potatoes or sweet potatoes, cubed and steamed or boiled

1/2 head cabbage, finely chopped

4 strips bacon

Cook the bacon and crumble it on a large frying pan. Throw in the cabbage and cook the cabbage until it wilts. Toss it together.

Mash the potatoes in a ricer or with a potato masher. Throw in some milk, butter, salt, and pepper. Put the potatoes into the cabbage and mix it together.

Enjoy the simple life while savoring this delightful meal.

Cabbage For One

Bob gave us some corn. Lots and lots of it. When Kevin went fishing with John he learned that Bob had some vegetables, so we drove to his place to pick up a few. We left with the back of our car loaded with 8 1/2 dozen ears of corn, 4 bags of tomatoes, a summer squash, 1 bag of apples, and a cabbage twice as big as my head.

Kevin doesn't eat cabbage. I will eat every single morsel of this ginormous beast of a vegetable.

He doesn't eat cabbage but he does shuck corn. And shuck corn. And shuck corn. And blanch it, and cut it, and freeze it. Anybody have any corn recipes? Or cabbage recipes?

Carnie Pizza

It started innocently. I sent Jen a link to Japanese pizza. A few months ago we got together for "Lentil Night" and had talked about getting together again to make other healthy recipes. I thought this pizza was hilarious and never expected anything to come of it.

But a few weeks later she said we should make the pizza. She loves cabbage, I love cabbage, and so we dove in head first and set up a time to get together.


Here is Jen looking stunning while she flattens the 'pizza'. I didn't get any pictures of the kitchen, but it is HUGE and she put in the cabinets by herself. She even got the marble slabs from the library remodel, sanded them, and finished them for her counter top. The whole house is a giant art project for them and they are refinishing the entire thing.

Jen made some soy milk to go with dinner. It was shockingly delicious. Apparently, she just soaks the soy beans over night, then puts them in her soy milk maker and out comes a delicious beverage.

Right before dinner was finished, Chuck came home. Rumor has it that he isn't an avid cabbage lover, but he was a great sport and ate his whole piece. We all smell like carnies (which is why we call it Carnie Pizza).

I know that I haven't made it sound appetizing, but that is only for effect. It really was quite tasty. I especially liked the cilantro on it, which really brought out the flavors. Don't think of it as pizza; think of it as a tasty healthy casserole. Sometimes it is hard to find main dish recipes for vegetables, and this is one that I will come back to time and time again.

The kids were playing outside so they completely missed the entire dinner experience.

Carnie Pizza

2 cups cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup leeks, well washed and chopped

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 t fine grain sea salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 T olive oil

Garnish: toasted slivered almonds, chives/ herbs, Parmesan cheese

Combine the cabbage, leeks, flour, and salt in a bowl. Toss until everything is coated with flour. Stir in the eggs and mix until everything is evenly coated.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a spray of olive oil. Scoop the cabbage mixture into the pan, and press it into a round pancake shape. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden. To flip it, slide it out of the skillet onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip both (together) over. If you need a bit more oil in your skillet, add it now, before sliding the pizza back into the skillet. Again press down a bit with a spatula and cook until golden on this side - another 3 -5 minutes.

When it is finished cooking, sprinkle with toasted almonds and chives, and slide it onto a cutting board to cut into wedges. Enjoy immediately.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Geri brought this salad to a church activity 6 years ago when I first moved to Minneapolis. It was tasty, so I asked for the recipe. She gave it to me and I stared in amazement. Raw red peppers?? Raw cabbage? Did she give me the WRONG recipe? The salad I remembered was tasty - and it certainly couldn't have contained those retched ingredients. This was back before I went wild and started eating vegetables.

But, alas, this time I ate my words - and a hearty portion of the cabbage salad. It contains all the 'bad' healthy ingredients and it is still good enough to chomp as a snack.

If you slice the peppers very thinly they will be less of a shock to picky taste buds. The soy sauce dressing really helps make it savory, and let's be honest: the Ramen seasoning makes it much, much tastier.

On a final note of caution, be careful when eating this in crowds. I brought a container of this to work for lunch about 3 years ago. I had made a bunch of it, so I ate it two days in a row. On the second day, I was halfway through the container when Dan walked in, sniffed the air, and loudly exclaimed, "WHAT IS THAT SMELL!??!" Nobody moved and there was absolutely no eye contact. As the silence stretched on and on, somebody finally pointed to my cube.

Surprised at this turn of events, I looked around the room at every one of my coworkers. Uh.....can the smell of cabbage be offensive? I wanted to crawl under my desk and hide. This is the first time I have made the recipe since that fateful day, and I just took a big whiff and positively think Dan must have been exaggerating.

Cabbage smells yummy to a room full of people who spend the day together but wish they didn't have to.

This is very adaptable. I didn't have green onions or bean sprouts, so I used chopped celery and put a few chopped onions in the dressing. Also, I left out the chicken to make it a side dish instead of a main dish.

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 small head cabbage, chopped

8 ounces bean sprouts

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

6 green onions, chopped

1 small package slivered almonds

4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

1 package Ramen noodles, crumbled (chicken or oriental flavored)

Dressing

6 T oil

2 T vinegar

2 T soy sauce

1 t sugar

1 Ramen seasoning pack

Mix the dressing and toss it with the cabbage just before serving. Relish this at home - some people are so picky about smells. Smell this and then tell me that you would rather smell a batch of chocolate chip cookies.