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Try these healthier mashed potatoes

Recipe: Colcannon with a twist -- chard and kale

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 24, 2019

Colcannon with mixed winter greens can be prepared ahead. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Colcannon is an old Irish side dish: Mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage and onions. It's a favorite for family get-togethers and winter dinners, and can serve as a holiday side dish, too.

The Gaelic name means "white headed cabbage." So taking the cabbage out of colcannon does seem like it can't really be called "colcannon." But for lack of a Gaelic dictionary, this variation is colcannon with a twist.

Before the big cabbage heads are mature, this recipe uses what's in abundance now -- young winter greens. That includes baby chards, kales and, yes, cabbages.

(Stick to the green-hued greens and not red chard or cabbage; the red may bleed into the mashed potatoes. )

Think of this colcannon as healthier mashed potatoes (all those extra antioxidants!) with no gravy necessary.

Another plus: This dish can be made ahead and re-warmed for gatherings.

Colcannon with mixed winter greens
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

5 russet potatoes
Salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 cups mixed winter greens, chopped
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Wash potatoes, cutting off any sprouted eyes or bruised spots.

In a large pot, place potatoes with enough water to cover. Add salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon). Bring potatoes to boil; cover and reduce heat to medium. Boil potatoes until tender when pierced with a knife and skins start to split.

The greens are cooked with onions first.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large deep pan over medium heat. Add chopped onions; sauté until soft.

Add chopped greens. Stir until greens wilt. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Reduce heat. Cook greens and onions until greens tender and water evaporated from the pan, about 5 minutes. (Check and stir occasionally; the water disappears fast.) Once greens are ready, set aside.

When ready, drain the potatoes and peel. Return potatoes to pot and mash. Add butter and cover. Let the butter melt a little, then mash potatoes some more. Stir in cream. (Add more butter and cream if desired.)

Once mashed potatoes are desired consistency, stir in greens and onions. Serve warm.

Prepare in advance: Combine the mashed potatoes and greens mixture, then transfer into a buttered casserole dish. Refrigerate until ready to warm.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before putting in the oven.

To warm: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place covered baking dish in oven and heat through, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove cover during final 10 minutes.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes gardening Sacramento fall cooking backyard produce produce management holiday food holiday cooking Thanksgiving

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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