5 Fruits & Vegetables for a Lucky St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching and it’s time to crack open the Guinness, wear as much green as humanly possible, and prepare for the upcoming holiday rush.
Here are the essential fruits and vegetables to bring you luck this St. Patrick’s Day:
You may think it’s a bit cliché to have potatoes listed, but St. Patrick’s Day without potatoes is like the sky without the color blue; gloomy, depressing, and bound to end in a storm. You can’t deny that these starchy vegetables are a crowd favorite for many reasons, not for any qualities they lack.
Firstly, they are extremely versatile for menus. Serve them mashed and piped onto a plate for a unique plating opportunity, roasted into a traditional Irish stew, or greased up and fried to deflate beer bellies – the possibilities are truly endless.
There are also many varieties to merchandise together. Create colorful displays by integrating seasonal potatoes, like the deep purple sweet potato, with russet, fingerling, and marble potatoes. Remember, people eat with their eyes first and these purple potatoes will add a pop of color to displays to compliment the traditional St. Patrick’s Day green.
In Ireland, cabbage is not as synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day fare as it is in the US. In reality, the tradition of eating cabbage to celebrate the holiday originated in the US around the 19th century when many commonplace products in Ireland were too pricey for Irish immigrates in the US. So, as an alternative, they substituted cabbage for potatoes as a side with corned beef.
Conical cabbage is prized in Europe for its mild, sweet flavor and tender texture. Along with its ability to replace green or red cabbage in any recipe, this variety can be cooked in many applications – from grilled, roasted, and even braised.
Up your Irish game by frying conical cabbage and adding to mash potatoes for a unique and delicious colcannon mash – the dish is bound to enhance St. Patrick’s Day menus!
We should all be able to agree that while peppermint takes the cake for Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day is the holiday where spearmint truly shines. Although it’s not a traditional Irish flavor, a quick Google search will show a lengthy list of minty desserts to celebrate the holiday with. Its popularity mainly stems from mints unique ability to pair well with green colored dishes. We’d suggest pairing the fried cabbage colcannon mash with a green shamrock martini. The bright flavor of the martini will contrast with the mash to give diners a full tastebud experience.
With hearty stews and a slew of savory dishes, microgreens are an essential way to brighten dishes. Usually about 1 to 1.5 inches long, these make the perfect garnish for a number of St. Patrick’s Day foods. Garnish soup with micro wasabi, colcannon mash with some rainbow mix, or Shepard’s pie with micro arugula – all will enhance the flavor to potentially earn you a pot of gold!
Okay – the last thing anyone probably expected on this list was citrus but hear us out. It’s an essential ingredient for St. Patrick’s Day menus. The holiday is filled with hearty, savory dishes and citrus will add brightness and balance to those meals. Thankfully, St. Patrick’s Day often falls within the peak of California citrus season. There are blood oranges, cara cara oranges, and meyer lemons readily available to be zested or juiced. Overall, it’s the perfect time of year to be in need of citrus!
