Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

When your thoughts turn to St. Patrick’s Day, what usually comes to mind? Green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and Irish soda bread? One Irish saying goes, Ní geal an gáite ach san aít a mbíonnan biadh! or Laughter is gayest where the food is best! But the day’s celebration needn’t include artery-busting corned beef, sausage, rashers, or other traditionally fatty foods. After all, many foods long traditional in the Irish diet—cabbage, carrots, parsnips, kale, potatoes—rank among the most nutritious. But they tend to get ruined, by being doused with cream and butter, adding unneeded fat and cholesterol to otherwise healthy foods.

So keep those Irish eyes smiling and let the healthy recipes below—modified from their high-fat versions—steal your heart away—away from the artery-clogging corned beef and rashers, that is! For it ain’t no Blarney that any lass or lad can easily eat healthy, even on this day of traditionally unhealthy fare.

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Fadge
(Makes ~12 2-1/2-inch potato bread)

1 medium potato, boiled and mashed
1 teaspoon soy margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 3/4 cup flour
cooking spray 

Mix potato with margarine and salt. Combine with flour. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until it forms a soft ball. Roll out to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 2-1/2-inch circles.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spray skillet with cooking spray. Add potato cakes and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side until well browned. Serve hot.

Goes well with maple syrup.

Nutrition information per potato cake: 38 calories, 1.24 g protein, 7.7 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g fat, 11% of calories from fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 49.4 mg sodium

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Carrots and Parsnips
(Serves 4)

8 oz. carrots
8 oz. parsnips
1 tablespoon vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste 

In a medium saucepan, simmer carrots and parsnips until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add vegetable broth or 1 tablespoon of the cooking liquid, chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste to the cooked vegetables. Mash together. Serve hot.

Nutrition information per 1/2-cup serving: 51 calories, 1.0 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 0.2 g fat, 3.5% of calories from fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 32.7 mg sodium

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Colcannon
(Serves 4)

2 medium potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup low-fat soymilk
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
salt and pepper to taste

Cut potatoes into large chunks. Add to a medium saucepan with enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat cook until tender when pierced with a fork—about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add about one inch of water to a medium saucepan. Insert steamer basket, bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Add kale, cover, and steam for about 4 minutes. Remove kale and place in a mixing bowl.

Once potatoes are cooked, peel and add to kale. In a small skillet, heat the soymilk and scallions, and simmer 5 minutes. Add to potatoes and kale and mash together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Nutrition information per approximately 2/3 cup serving: 87 calories, 2.4 g protein, 18.3 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g fat, 5.5% of calories from fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 30.7 mg of sodium

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Vegan Irish Soda Bread
(Makes 10 slices)

1 cup low-fat soymilk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon Ener-G® egg replacer
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 tablespoons soy margarine
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Combine soymilk and vinegar, set aside.

Combine Ener-G® egg replacer with water and mix until frothy, set aside.

Combine whole wheat flour, minus 1 teaspoon, white flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut in soy margarine. Add egg replacer mixture and then slowly mix in soymilk mixture. Coat raisins with remaining 1 teaspoon of whole wheat flour. Add raisins and caraway seeds to mixture. Pour into a nonstick 9” x 5” x 3” loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Tastes delicious served warm!

Nutrition information per slice: 122 calories, 3.2 g protein, 22.7 g carbohydrate, 2.4 g fat, 17.6% of calories from fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 401 mg sodium.

Source: http://www.pcrm.org/health/Recipes/st_patty.html