This creamy carrot soup is make silky with the addition of a sweet potato and creme fraîche, for a perfect vegetarian lunch.
Make this soup ahead and keep in the refrigerator, if that’s easier for your schedule. And if you don’t have any créme fraîche, substitute heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk.
Adding a sweet potato to almost anything makes for a super soft recipe. Like this sweet potato bread and sweet potato biscuits. And this Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup.
👩⚕️ Carrot Nutrition
Carrots are a great source of carotenes, which help to prevent cancer. And while they’re healthy whether cooked or raw, they are much more useful to the body when cooked.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
Unsalted butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Yellow onion
Garlic
Carrots
Sweet potato
White wine – a dry white wine is best, such as Sauvignon Blanc
Vegetable broth – I typically use Better Than Bouillon, Roasted Vegetable Paste.
Crème fraîche – If you don’t have this ingredient, you can use either heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
Don’t add the crème fraîche until the soup is puréed, and don’t bring the soup back to a boil after it’s added. If you substitute heavy cream or sour cream, follow these same instructions.
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute, until fragrant.
Add the chopped carrots, sweet potato, and wine and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring every now and then, for 5 minutes, or until most of the wine has cooked off.
Add the broth and bring to a simmer and cover the pot. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer until the carrots and sweet potato cubes are soft, 20 – 30 minutes, depending on the size of the veggies.
Either purée the soup in the pot, using an immersion stick blender, or pour it into a high-speed countertop blender and purée. If using a blender, return the puréed soup back to the pot. Stir in the crème fraîche, and reheat over medium heat until hot, but not simmering. Add salt and black pepper to taste before serving.
Figuring out side dishes for a vegetarian Irish dinner for Saint Patrick’s is pretty easy, like colcannon, an Irish mashed potato dish, but main dishes take a little more work in the imagination category. Traditional Irish main dishes for St. Patrick’s tend to be very meat centric. I’ve made vegetarian Cornish pasties, but this year, with all the snow and cold weather we’ve been having, what I really want to make is an vegetarian Irish stew.
🤷♀️ What is an Irish Stew?
Irish stew is often referred to as an Irish Guinness stew, since (duh) it includes a bottle of Guinness lager along with the broth. It always has potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, and some kind of hearty meat, such as mutton. The sturdy meat flavors meld very well with Guinness.
However, if you use Guinness with a vegetarian stew, it can be a little bitter. Usually sugar is added to the recipe to counter that. But for some, then it’s just a bitter stew that’s a little sweet. So I opted for a lighter beer that still gives the stew a beer flavor, without overwhelming the sauce and veggies.
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
Even though there’s no meat in this recipe, there’s a lot of umami, so you won’t miss the meat. I promise. Bouillon, soy sauce and tomato paste all add some fabulous umami flavor, as do the mushrooms.
I even added a bit of marmite for umami, but it’s totally optional.
I use 2 kinds of mushrooms in this recipe for a greater depth of flavor, since the mushroom act as the replacement for the meat.
A lighter beer contributes the beer-y earthy flavor without overwhelming the vegetarian stew, like a Guinness could.
This recipe is very make-ahead friendly. In fact the flavors continue to meld with an overnight stay in the refrigerator.
If you have colcannon, or other mashed potatoes, on the menu, they can be served in the same bowl.
A crusty hunk of bread is all you need to finish the meal.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
Mushrooms – I recommend using 2 types of mushrooms for a greater depth of flavor and texture since the mushroom replace the meat. I used baby bella and shiitake mushrooms.
Yellow onion
Carrots
Celery
Garlic
Unsalted butter
All-purpose flour
Beer – I used Corona, but an amber beer such as Negro Modelo would work too. Don’t use a beer you wouldn’t enjoy drinking on its own.
Marmite – optional, if you don’t use Better than Bouillon for your vegetable broth.
Green cabbage
Russet potatoes – Yukon gold or red potatoes are also fine in this recipe.
Soy sauce – or Tamari
Tomato paste
Fresh thyme
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this vegetarian Irish stew are in the recipe card below, but here’s a general overview!
Step 1
Prep the veggies. I recommend prepping everything before heating up the Dutch oven. This frees you up to just cook the stew. I’ve even prepped the mushrooms, onion, celery, carrot, garlic and cabbage the day before, and store the in the refrigerator.
Step 2
Sear. Sear the mushrooms for a few minutes, and remove from the pot. Set aside until the very end of the recipe.
Step 3
Sauté. Sauté the onion, celery and carrots until the onion is translucent, and starting to brown a little on the bottom of the pot. Melt the butter in the pot and add the flour. Toss to coat and cook until the raw flour scent is gone.
Step 4
Made the stew. Make a roux by adding the beer. Add the vegetable broth, cabbage, potatoes, soy sauce and tomato paste. Season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Simmer for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
Add the mushrooms back into the pot, and simmer another 10 minutes before serving.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
Prep the mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and cabbage ahead of time. I’ve even done this the day before making this stew, storing them in bowls covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator overnight.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
The flavor of this stew is deepened by creating a fond, or cooked food coating at the bottom of the pot. The best way to get this fond to develop is to allow veggies to stick to the bottom of the pot a bit.
This means don’t move the mushrooms around a great deal when searing them. Only toss them around every 30 seconds. After you replace them in the pot with the onions, celery and carrots, do the same. Let the veggies sit still while they cook, and only nudge them around the pot once you see them starting to brown on the bottom of the pot.
When the beer is added, use a wooded spoon to start to scrape up the cooked fond coating. It will continue to release while the stew simmer.
If you use a boxed or canned vegetable broth, instead of Better Than Bouillon, you may want to add 2 teaspoons of marmite to the stew for a burst of umami flavor.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
Swap one of the potatoes for a turnip or parsnip.
🥩 For the Meat Eaters at the Table
Serve with a steak, so that the meat eaters get some beef with their stew.
Don’t have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
1tablespoonkosher saltor 1 ½ teaspoons of sea salt
½teaspoonground black pepper
3largesprigs of thymeleft intact
Instructions
Prep the mushrooms, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven, or other heavy bottomed pot, over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms all at once. They should sizzle. Sear for 5 minutes, or until starting to brown. Pro-tip: Don’t move them around more often than once every 30 seconds, to allow a fond to develop on the base of the pot.
Remove the mushrooms and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium heat, and add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot. Add a little extra olive oil if needed. Toss to coat and cook until the onions are translucent, and starting to brown on the bottom of the pot.Pro-tip: Don’t move them around more often than once every 60 seconds, to allow a fond to develop on the base of the pot.
Melt the butter in the pot, stir with the veggies, and add the flour. Using a wooden spoon, move the veggies around in the flour to coat them. Cook for a few minutes until the raw flour scent is gone. Nudge them around the pot every 15 seconds to make sure the flour is cooked.
Slowly add the beer, while constantly stirring the veggies. A thick, paste-like gravy will develop. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown fond on the bottom of the pot. If it doesn’t all come up, no worries. It will continue to release while the stew simmers.
Add the vegetable broth, potatoes, cabbage, soy sauce, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme sprigs. Cover and simmer on low for 30 – 35 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.Add the mushrooms back in, and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
A bottle of rosemary olive oil is a wonderful ingredient to have on hand for dipping bread or drizzling over veggies, such as potatoes, or beans, such as white beans or chickpeas. It also makes a great hostess gift.
All set to go!
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
Extra virgin olive oil – use a high quality olive oil for infusing.
Rosemary – this recipe is for fresh rosemary, not dried.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Small heavy bottomed pot or skillet. It’s important that it’s a good quality that has an even heat across the surface of the pot or pan. Avoid aluminum or non-enameled cast iron for this recipe.
Small strainer to strain out the rosemary leaves following the infusion. If you don’t have one, you can use a tea strainer.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
Wash and thoroughly dry the rosemary before making rosemary olive oil. If there is any water in the oil, it can cause spoilage.
If your immunity is compromised, I recommend adding a little vinegar and water to a bowl, and wash the rosemary in it. The vinegar can destroy bacteria that could be present. Then rinse and dry the leaves very well.
You can use dried herbs to make infused oils, but be sure they’re as fresh as possible. This is the safest way to infuse an oil as the moisture has been completely removed.
Step-by-step instructions for making rosemary olive oil in your own kitchen.
Prep Time2mins
Cook Time10mins
cooling time1hr
Total Time1hr12mins
Course: Condiment, ingredient
Cuisine: Any
Keyword: Rosemary Olive Oil
Servings: 8
Calories: 120kcal
Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian
Instructions
Wash and thorough dry the rosemary leaves. Leave them as is or chop. I like to chop them to release more of the natural oil in the rosemary, but you can leave them whole. You can also leave them on their woody stems, although that can add a little bitterness to the oil, IMO.Pro-tip: If there’s water left on the leaves, this can spoil the oil.
Place the rosemary in a small pot, and pour the olive oil over it. Warm it over low heat for 10 minutes. Do not simmer, as this can degrade the quality of the oil.
Remove from the heat, and cool for 1 hour.
Strain the leaves from the olive and pour into a clean, dry jar. Seal and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
In last week’s podcast, we talked with Nemanja Golubović about how he knew he was “ready” to not just open his own business, but to tell his parents the truth about who he was. These are both monumental pivot points in a person’s life, and I wanted to look back on my own life–to examine whether or not I felt similarly ready to make a big change.
You’ll Know When You Know.
How did you know you were ready to get married?
How did you know you were ready to have kids?
How did you know you were ready to change careers?
How did you know you were ready to start a business?
The following is the answer I hear most frequently to questions like these:
“You’ll know when you know.”
BULLSHIT.
Call me pedantic, but unless you’re of the crystal ball reading ilk, there is NO way to know, with any certainty, that you are, in fact, “ready” for the kind of life-changing decisions that often beg the question,
ARE YOU READY?
Why? Because, again, unless you’re pretty confident in your psychic abilities, you can’t prepare for the unknown. Unlike the 50 yard dash–a short straight line on a smooth track with a weather forecast that literally foretells the future–your marriage, your kids, your career, and your business aren’t designed to be completed in 10 seconds or less. In fact, they’re made to last, if not forever, at least for many, many decades. How can anyone possibly predict the outcome of these decisions with the level of certainty necessary to answer affirmatively to the question,
ARE YOU READY?
The “Impossible” Option.
So, if the honest answer to this question is always “Nope,” how does anyone actually do things like get married, have kids, or start a business?
A good friend suggested that I quit my day job and go full time with The Korean Vegan back in 2017. I knew next to nothing about monetizing my blog and, in all candor, I thought the idea was absurd and, in a word, “impossible.” Later that year, I spent some time getting to know a professional “blogger” in Chicago and concluded that having to answer to brands was not that much different from being answerable to my legal clients. Why trade one stress for another? More specifically, why would I give up an albeit soul-sucking job that paid really good money for a slightly less soul-sucking job that seemed to pay a lot less money?
But over the next several months, I spoke with all kinds of entrepreneurs who encouraged me to do just that, and before I knew it, I replaced the word “impossible” with “highly unlikely.” In late 2017, I was introduced to a literary agent who worked with me over the course of the next year to put together a book proposal. At that time, I harbored zero dreams of publishing a cookbook. I was a full-time partner at a large law firm and my “dreams” (if you can really call them that) consisted of building a predictable book of business, one that would ensure my moderate success at Foley for years to come. To my astonishment, at the end of 2018, a major publishing house accepted my proposal for a book full of Korean plant-based recipes and stories, and the needle went from “highly unlikely” to “improbable.”
I wrote, photographed, and recipe tested the entire book while working as a full-time partner. I treated it as a “hobby,” something into which I could pour my desire to create something beautiful, completely different from a 15 page reply brief in support of a motion for summary judgment. I had many more conversations with the friend who told me back in 2017 that I should quit my job and focus my energy on The Korean Vegan, and as the first draft of my manuscript came to its conclusion, I allowed myself to be carried away on the gusts of dream-chasing. It was exhilarating.
For two whole months.
After I submitted my manuscript in November 2019, my editor came back to me with substantial comments: I would have to scrap most of the stories and come up with an additional 25 to 30 recipes. I took this to mean two things: (a) my writing wasn’t good enough; and (b) I was an idiot for thinking I could do anything other than law. The indicator went back to “highly unlikely.”
One month later, the order came down through Firm Management–we would be entering quarantine like everyone else. I packed up my laptop, my FRCPs, and pocket sized FREs and set up shop on the dining table I’d purchased with the hope of hosting lavish dinner parties. Like everyone else, I was terrified of losing my job; thus, even while developing 30 more recipes, taking photographs in my new studio, and rewriting my manuscript over and over and over again, I was laser beam focused on proving my indispensability to the Firm. In other words, we returned to something very near to the “impossible” zone.
In an attempt to puncture that haze of anxiety with a little levity, I started a TikTok account.
From Impossible to “Almost-Probably-Very-Likely.”
I’ve talked about how TikTok changed my life so often, so I’ll limit this recounting to the highlights. I started my account in July 2020. In three months, I’d amassed 900,000 followers. My editor, who originally advised eliminating the majority of the stories I’d included in my first manuscript, suggested that we add many of them back in. Before anyone even knew I had a book coming out, “The Korean Vegan” was being written about in CNN, Bon Appétit, and NPR. Suffice it to say, we went from “nearly impossible” to “wait, maybe this is a thing?”
In November 2020, I posted a video that would go viral–on TikTok and Twitter. Twitter is where many journalists hang out, and as a result, I was asked to co-author my very first Op-Ed in The Atlantic. You may not realize this, but some of your most favorite op-eds are often written in less than a day, if not a few hours. I can still feel the sweat trickling down my back while I kept up with emails from my co-author and the Atlantic editor, while answering the phone that seemed to be ringing off the hook with people who wanted to hire me as their lawyer. Once the final edit was submitted, I put my head down, luxuriating in the cool mahogany of my desk pressed against my brow and said to myself, “I just can’t do both anymore.” And then, the phone resumed its ceaseless ringing.
It was at that point that I seriously considered making a living out of my very expensive hobby, realizing that I could do either my lawyer job or The Korean Vegan. Not both. For the next several months, I experimented with monetizing The Korean Vegan–I began providing content for brands I’d always loved (like JUST Egg), put together live cooking demonstrations that sold out in a couple days, and even agreed to speaking engagements about my stories and career. Within six months, I felt moderately confident that even if I couldn’t make as much money as I did as a Big Law lawyer, I could make enough to pay my rent, internet bill, and doenjang (the building blocks of any good life).
As the needle inched closer to “Almost-Probably-Very-Likely,” a veritable avalanche of support threatened to smother me. Many of my close friends, my colleagues, my lit agent, my publisher, and even my favorite podcaster on the planet told me that The Korean Vegan was as sure a bet as could possibly exist and that I’d be nuts not to go for it. But even so… If someone asked me, “Are you ready?” In all honesty, I would have answered…
No.
On the Lakefront Path.
But what was once a passing fancy or a fun “oh, wouldn’t it be nice?” thought was now a full-blown obsession. I was thinking about my future all the time and while it was exciting to some degree, mostly, it was very stressful. The constant vacillation was wearing me down to a nub. I just wanted to decide, one way or another, and stick with it.
I was on a long run on Chicago’s lakefront path and, not surprisingly, my thoughts once again turned to the Big Dilemma. I decided to play this game where I answered the question “What’s the worst that can happen?” with the most brutally, mind-numbing worst case scenario I could realistically imagine.
“I would lose all my money, including my 401k, and file for bankruptcy. My parents would disown me, my family would be too embarrassed to be seen with me, I would lose all my friends, and the stress of it all would cause so much fighting between myself and Anthony, we’d get a divorce. So, basically, I would be living in an empty studio apartment with a box for a table, eating out of a can, all by my freaking self, possibly without electricity.”
I’m very good at coming up with worst case scenarios–I suppose that’s one of the reasons I excelled at lawyering. But for whatever reason, my brain didn’t turn and run away from the imaginary future I’d created with such disturbing clarity. It was true that I couldn’t possibly know what lay in front of a decision to pursue a dream career at the ripe age of 42, and therefore, I could never adequately prepare for all the hurdles that would inevitably crop up along the way. It was equally true that I was indecisive to a fault, that opportunity could fritter away in “I don’t know” land for over a decade, while I waited for the kind of guarantee that simply didn’t exist. Despite all the things I didn’t know, I landed squarely upon something I knew beyond any doubt:
Even if taking a risk led me right over a cliff, I’d eventually land on my feet.
You see, it turns out that I’d been thinking about it all wrong. When I asked myself “are you ready,” of course I couldn’t possibly be prepared to handle all manner of adversity that might occur should I do a complete 180 on my career. But readiness isn’t really about whether you’re able to make the right call at every turn, ace every test, succeed, succeed, succeed.
It’s ok if it takes months, years, even decades. But once you know that you’ll be ok, even if the worst happens, there’s only one answer that’ll remain to the question,
ARE YOU READY?
Last week, Nemanja Golubović and I discussed the dreaded question, “are you ready?” In line with that conversation, I wanted to tackle this question by Sky, who’s struggling to find some special “talent” that will get her ready to dive into the extraordinary.
Sky,
Did you know that despite creating 2,100 pieces of art, it is believed that Vincent Van Gogh sold only one before he died? During his lifetime, his post-impressionist aesthetic ….
When I was 10 years old, my doctor told me I was eating too many French Fries. I kind of hated him for that. Luckily, baked fries are nearly as good as the fried variety, but obviate the need for so much oil. Here’s my recipe for one of my all time favorite comfort foods!
Simple and Easy Garlicky Baked Fries
8 Servings
4 medium Yukon golden potatoes (does NOT work as well with russet potatoes) ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 clove garlic 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper
Preheat your oven to 475° F.
Thoroughly wash the potatoes (with the skin on), taking care to remove any “eyes.”
Cut the potatoes into 1-inch thick wedges. Place them in a pot of water until they are completely submerged, over high heat. Allow the water to come to a boil and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until a knife easily pierces one of the wedges.
While the potatoes are cooking, add the extra virgin olive to a small sauce pot, together with the garlic, over medium heat. Cook until the edges of the garlic clove begin to toast (about 4 to 5 minutes). Remove from heat, fish out the garlic clove, and set aside.
When the potatoes are done cooking, drain them completely and place them back in the large pot. Add the garlic infused oil to the pot, place the lid back on, and shake the pot like your life depends on it (this is a non-negotiable step!).
Spread the potato wedges onto a baking sheet (no need for parchment paper or foil!). Make sure not to crowd the sheet (use two sheets if necessary). Place them in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, until the wedges easily come off the sheet (if they stick, cook for an additional 2 minutes until they come off). Flip and return them to the oven for an additional 5 minutes, until both sides are evenly browned.
While the potatoes are in the oven, mince up that clove of garlic you cooked in the oil (if you thought I would let you throw that away, think again).
Dump all the potatoes into a steel bowl (glass, plastic, or other bowls will cause them to steam, so if you don’t have a steel bowl, just leave them on the baking sheets). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic, and toss.
Want instant access to thousands of plant-based recipes like this one? Check out The Korean Vegan Kollective, a downloadable web-app that unlocks:
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Updates/Random Things.
What I’m Watching. This week, Anthony and I finished off the entire season of The Law According to Lidia Poet. It’s only 6 episodes long and each episode is only 45 minutes, so it was a pretty easy lift. The show is in Italian (Anthony tried to watch without reading the subtitles–I cannot do that for Korean dramas!), beautifully shot, and fairly well-written. Overall, we enjoyed it immensely, and you should definitely give it a shot!
Lincoln, Nebraska. In case you missed it, I gave a presentation in Lincoln, Nebraska earlier this month and it was terrifically fun. Not only did I get to hang with people half my age (even younger!) to discuss careers, vegan food, and what it’s like being a woman in law, we got to try almost every vegan restaurant in town! We’ll be posting an update from our trip, along with all the vegan places to eat in both Lincoln, as well as other cities we visit on our travels in The Korean Vegan Kollective!
What I’m Listening To. A couple years ago, I did this FANTASTIC podcast with Ed Levine (founder of Serious Eats). It’s recently re-aired as a “Redux” and it’s still so good. If you missed it, make sure to check it out!
What I’m Eating. Anthony was invited by the CEO of a new vegan cheese company to a launch party last week and I went as his +1. Climax Bio is poised to take the world by storm with it’s entirely plant-based cheeses and I am HERE FOR IT! They were the sweetheart of Expo West this past week and it’s no wonder–their cheese is THE REAL DEAL!! Keep an eye on them because everything I tasted of theirs was INCREDIBLE!
That’s a wrap folks!! Until next week, have a lovely day!
A collection of Irish vegetarian recipes for your St. Patrick’s Day table, or any time of year.
This collection includes bread, sides and main dishes for St. Patrick’s day, some of which can be made ahead of time.
Traditional Irish food for St. Patrick’s Day may feature a leg of lamb with rosemary, or meat and fish pies. Shepherd’s pie (meat with a potato crust) and Guinness and Beef Pie are both very popular. But what if what you really want are Irish vegetarian recipes for your table this year?
I’ve got you covered.
I’ve pulled together some ideas ranging from bread to sides and main dishes. All are vegetarian, some are vegan.
C O C K T A I L
Frozen Mudslide Cocktail
This frozen mudslide recipe is easy to make with a couple scoops of ice cream and equal parts of Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and vodka. And it’s a two-fer since it can be either a creamy cocktail or boozy dessert.
B R E A D S
Potato Rolls with Chives
These Potato Rolls with Chives are super soft from adding a mashed up boiled potato, with a slightly crusty crust. And they’re loaded with chives. These are yeasted rolls, and very easy to make. There’s very little actual work on your part – but allow time for the dough to rise.
Soda Bread with Raisins and Orange Zest
Soda Breads don’t use yeast – they only use baking soda for the leavener, with buttermilk to help activate it. My version – Soda bread with Raisins and Orange Zest is in keeping with traditional versions, but I added raisin soaked in whisky and some orange zest. And salt. Many of the earliest versions of soda bread are famous for omitting salt.
S I D E S
Best Ever Braised Cabbage
My Best Ever Braised Cabbage will make cabbage lovers out of haters. The recipe is written for Savoy Cabbage, but you can use any kind of cabbage. It includes onions, white wine, a little cream and a dash of mustard. And of course it has caraway seeds, although they are completely optional.
Easy Roasted Garlicky Cabbage Steaks
Or make these Easy Roasted Garlicky Cabbage Steaks for your cabbage side (and hello, cabbage is a must for a St. Patrick’s Day meal). This post includes tips for getting the surfaces crispy, although this dish is delicious either way.
Colcannon
Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes) is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick’s Day. It combines family favorite ingredients of potatoes, cabbage, onions (or leeks), cream and butter into a massive comfort food. These are ingredients I often have, and am always so surprised at how amazing this combination is.
And yes, this dish can totally be made ahead and reheated.
Vegetarian Cornish Pasties
These flaky Vegetarian Cornish Pasties are filled with creamy celery root, potatoes, leeks and pickled apples. They’re a little more trouble, but I use a frozen pie dough to make mine. They’re perfect for a warm appetizer or side dish.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
Old Fashioned Potato Gratin
Potatoes are required for any St. Patrick’s Day table. One option can be this Old Fashioned Potato Gratin. If you have a hand-held mandoline for slicing the potatoes, this dish comes together pretty quickly, and the potatoes will cook evenly.
Mashed Celery Root with Blue Cheese and Watercress
For a different twist on mashed potatoes, try this Mashed Celery Root recipe I created for The Food Network’s blog. I swapped out potatoes for celery root, and added blue cheese and watercress.
M A I N S
Cheesy Cauliflower Rarebit Slab Pie with a Rye Crust
This Cheesy Cauliflower Rarebit Slab Pie is from a cookbook I reviewed that a friend of mine wrote. And it is absolutely delicious, and perfect for a crowd. It’s essentially a cheesy cauliflower casserole wrapped up in a slab pie with a rye crust. Make it ahead, and reheat for a party.
Kale and Cauliflower Tart in a Cheddar Crust
This delicious Kale and Cauliflower Tart is packed with kale, caramelized onions, cauliflower and roasted tomatoes. It’s all layered into a cheddar cheese crust.
D E S S E R T
Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse
This easy Bailey’s Mousse keeps it vegetarian by eliminating the gelatin, getting its lift only from whipped egg whites. This also makes it an incredibly easy dessert – especially if you melt the chocolate in the microwave oven like I do.
I hope you find something in this collection of vegetarian Irish recipes for your table this year.
Colcannon is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick’s Day, or really any other time of year. It combines family favorite ingredients of potatoes, cabbage, onions (or leeks), cream and butter into a massive comfort food.
Think of this dish as Irish mashed potatoes that takes traditional mashed potatoes to a new level by folding in sautéed cabbage and onions.
A traditional Irish colcannon consists of mashed potatoes mixed with sautéed cabbage (or kale) and either leeks, onions, or scallions. The mashed potatoes were made with cream and butter.
So where does the name colcannon come from? It comes from a Gaelic term which morphed over the centuries into the word “colcannon”, meaning “white-headed cabbage”.
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
It’s easy enough to be a last minute dish.
It’s hard to go wrong with mashed potatoes with most any crowd.
Kids and adults alike will love it.
Use as a side dish to most main dishes.
No fancy ingredients.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
Potatoes – I use russet potatoes, but you can use Yukon potatoes or even red potatoes. Russet potatoes result in fluffy mashed potatoes, and Yukon gold potatoes make creamy mashed potatoes.
Yellow onion – Leeks can also be used, and are more traditional, or green onions (scallions). I’ve used all with excellent success.
Light green cabbage – Kale is fine in this recipe too, which is a little more healthy.
Heavy cream – or half and half.
Unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this colcannon recipe are in the recipe card below, but here’s a quick overview!
Step 1
Cook the potatoes. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Simmer the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain, retaining ½ cup of the water the potatoes were cooked in.
Step 2
Sauté. Sauté the cabbage and onions over medium heat until softened.
Step 3
Make mashed potatoes. Mash the potatoes using either a potato masher or potato ricer. Melt the butter in the cream in the microwave oven. Stir into the mashed potatoes. If the potatoes are a little dry, add some of the reserved water from cooking the potatoes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Add the cabbage. Fold the cooked cabbage and onions into the mashed potatoes.
Check the seasoning, and add salt and / or pepper if needed.
Step 5
Serve. Scoop everything into a serving bowl, and serve colcannon topped with butter and chopped parsley.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
Melt the butter in the cream so that both are warm when stirred into the potatoes. This keeps the mashed potatoes from cooling off.
Reserve some of the water from cooking the potatoes. If you want your mashed potatoes creamier, just add some of that starchy water instead of more cream and butter.
Don’t have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
Colcannon is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick’s Day, or really any other time of year. Think of it as Irish mashed potatoes that takes traditional mashed potatoes to a new level by folding in sautéed cabbage and onions.
Prep Time20mins
Cook Time15mins
Total Time35mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: colcannon, Irish mashed potatoes
Servings: 6
Calories: 254.1kcal
Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian
Ingredients
2poundsrusset potatoes
4tablespoonsunsalted butterdivided
1cupdiced yellow onion(½ large onion) or thinly sliced leeks
4cupslight green cabbagecut into 1-inch pieces (about ½ head of cabbage)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the potatoes, and quarter them. Place them in the pot, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.
While the potatoes cook, melt 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter in a large skillet, and add the diced onion and chopped cabbage. Toss to coat everything in the butter, and cook until softened, about 15 minutes.Season with salt and pepper.
When the potatoes are tender, scoop out about 1 cup of the starchy water, and drain the potatoes. Transfer them either back to the pot or to a bowl, and mash them.
Melt the butter in the cream in the microwave. I use a microwave-safe measuring cup for this. Stir the warm liquid into the mashed potatoes. If you want them creamier, add some of the reserved starchy water from cooking the potatoes.Season with salt and pepper.
Fold the cooked cabbage into the mashed potatoes, and transfer to a serving dish.
Serve the colcannon warm, topped with a little extra butter and freshly ground pepper. If you want, garnish with a little chopped parsley.
