Colcannon: vegetarian, gluten-free, and utterly divine!

This is, I believe, a primarily Irish dish, traditionally made with leftover potatoes and cabbage. Since my husband detests cabbage, we seldom have any left over (as I seldom cook it), but I have come up with some variation on the original which, amazingly, my cabbage-hating husband actually enjoys!

There are a lot of variations you can try, which are listed at the end of the recipe. What is important to remember, however, is that you must prepare this with previously cooked ingredients (except as specifically noted), and those ingredients should not have been fried.

This is especially good served with roast pork or grilled meat.

This is not only a vegetarian recipe (vegan if you don’t use butter), it is gluten-free as well. And it tastes really, really good!

Colcannon
Ingredients:
2 cups boiled, mashed or steamed potatoes (unmashed potatoes should be cut into chunks)
2 cups cooked cabbage, cut into spoon-sized chunks
¼ cup fresh butter (substitute margarine for vegetarian)
¼ cup olive oil
1 large fresh onion, roughly chopped
2-4 cloves roasted garlic (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation:
Heat butter and oil in pot. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion begins to soften. Add potatoes and cabbage and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is heated through. Add salt and pepper, reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or more.

Variations:
1) Use kale instead of cabbage
2) Use leftover Brussels sprouts, cut in half, in place of cabbage (my favourite...see photo above)
3) Use unpeeled (but cooked) baby potatoes (my favourite...see photo above)
4) Add cooked turnips, kohlrabi, and/or parsnips to cabbage
5) Sauté ½ cup sliced mushrooms with onions
6) Use red cabbage for a different look
7) Use more onion…it makes the dish sweeter