Cauliflower Colcannon

… or Cauliflower “Kale-Cannon”

Irish colcannon, the traditional comfort food all the Irish (and some of us Americans) love to sing about. Every time I think about colcannon, the song starts playing in my head and I feel like breaking out into song and doing a little jig. I discovered Colcannon years ago and have made it many times, in a few different ways, but always with potatoes and always with cabbage, bacon (or ham, which is closer to the Irish style of bacon) and butter.

This year, I thought: what if I tried mashed cauliflower in place of the potatoes? How would that do? And then I also thought … what if I used kale instead of cabbage? … That sounded good too. I knew that some use kale in their colcannon, so I wasn’t totally straying from Irish tradition by using kale … but yeah, still use butter. Irish grass fed butter, my new heart healthy friend that’s loaded with vitamin K2.

I meant to make this a week ago so I could get the post up long before St. Patty’s Day. I even bought all the ingredients last weekend … and then let the cauliflower and kale and green onions sit in my veggie drawer in the fridge all week long. It’s a good thing they all kept well. I hope you’ll forgive me for posting this ON St. Patty’s Day. It’s totally okay to be eating Irish all month long, right?

I skipped the bacon this time and just went for straight buttery taste. I added a little Greek cream cheese for extra creaminess and one small token potato, you know, just because I wanted a bit of REAL potato flavor in there. (And I do so love my spuds.) If you want to go all-out cauliflower, go for it. … you guys, oh my gosh this tasted SO good, so close to the real thing! Creamy comfort food at its best. I’m totally looking forward to eating the leftovers.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, dear foodie friends!

Cauliflower “Kale-cannon”

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 of a large head of cauliflower (about 16 oz.)
• 1 small potato, peeled
• 1 Tablespoon Irish grass fed butter (such as Kerrygold)
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons low fat milk
• 2 oz. Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
• 1 – 2 cups (about 3 oz.) kale, ribs removed, chopped
• Salt & pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Break the cauliflower into florets and put in a steamer. Steam until very tender.
2. Meanwhile, peel the potato and cook it either in the microwave or add it to the steamer.
3. When the cauliflower and potatoes are fully cooked and very tender, put them in a food processor or blender. Add the milk and cream cheese and process until smooth.
4. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter is melted and starts to bubble a little, add the chopped onion. Saute for several minutes until the onion is very soft. Stir in the green onions and cook a little longer.
5. Stir in the cauliflower mash until it’s hot, then add chopped kale leaves and stir just until they are wilted and incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a little pat of butter.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2019, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

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Nutrition

• Calories: 180

Looking for more Irish recipes?

Some of these are American Irish, but they’re all good, just the same!

Appetizers/Snacks:

• Baked Pumpernickle Reuben Rolls
• Irish Cheesy Nachos with Corned Beef and Beer Cheese Sauce
• Reuben Egg Rolls

Breads:

• Irish Barmbrack Bread
• Parmesan & Herb Irish Scones

Main Dishes:

• Slow Cooker Irish Drunken Stew
• Irish Ale Corned Beef & Butter Braised Cabbage with Bacon Mashed Potatoes (an American Irish thing)
• Reuben Lettuce Wraps
• Overnight Reuben Strata
• Reuben Sandwiches
• Guinness Beef Shepherd’s Pie

Salads and Soups:

• Irish Seafood Chowder
• Irish Cabbage & Potato Soup
• Irish Pub Salad
• Corned Beef & Cabbage Salad
• Light Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Colcannon (totally deserves its own category):

• Colcannon with Red Onion and Bacon
• Blue Potato Colcannon with Ham
• Breakfast Colcannon

Desserts:

• Irish Berry Bread & Butter Pudding with Whiskey Berry Sauce
• Irish Chocolate Potato Cake
• Bailey’s Chocolate Poke Cake
• Irish Cream & Kahlua Chocolate Poke Cake
• Irish Tea Cake