Kind-of-Colcannon
3 baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 small celery roots, peeled and chopped
1 small or 1/2 large head green cabbage, chopped finely
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 bunch scallions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1. Boil the potatoes and celery roots in plenty of water until soft (about 1/2 hour).
2. Saute onion and cabbage in a bit of cooking spray for a few minutes. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan (I used a wok), cover, and let cook, stirring once in a while, until onion is browned and cabbage is tender.
3. Add scallions after 10 minutes or so. Drain potatoes and celery root, place in a bowl, and mash with a wooden spoon or potato masher (no food processor! it turns potatoes to glue); it should be slightly lumpy.
4. Add the cabbage-onion-scallion mixture and blend well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.'
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This was relaly nice, just like mash potatoes but with a little bit of an onion flavour. I also used caluiflower because we dont have cabbage but 3 cauliflowers! I think it was nice and simple
Since the original has bacon in it, I just add chopped-up veggie bacon. It definitely ups the flavor ante.
I would say that this dish was bland, but then I would be ignoring the fact that I'm eating something Irish. The classic colcannon is just mashed potatoes covered in boiled cabbage and onion, so the celery addition is actually a step up!
ALTERATIONS: I didn't have cabbage, so I used cauliflower for the tang factor, and boiled the onion in veggie broth instead of water.
CONS: When it says "salt to taste" what that means is, add a HEARTY amount of salt - you'll want it.
PROS: Easy to adjust the portion size to serve for one. If you cut the potato in small cubes, you can have the whole shebang ready for dinner in just over 30 min. With medium clean-up.
All in all, you can beat mashed potatoes with stewing veggies involved, I served with roasted carrots for a bit of color.