Colcannon

Now we go to Ireland to create a dish known as "Colcannon". This traditional Irish dish is a wonderful comfort food and with a few tweaks it can be a surprisingly easy to make, great tasting, and healthy all in one dish. This dish is usually heavy on the potato which also means a high intake of carbohydrates. To modify this recipe for diabetics and provide a wider nutritional profile, while at the same time turnip has been incorporated to halve the total carbs and calories. As a happy side effect turnips also brighten the taste by adding a little sweetness.

Ingredients

1 small bunch kale
½ onion, diced
3 medium potato, quartered
2 medium turnips, quartered
1 tbsp butter
salt
pepper
4 rashers bacon
¼ cup milk
¼ water
olive oil

Directions

In a salted pot of water, add both the potato and turnips until tender.

Strip kale leaves from stalk (discard stalk) and give a rough chop.

Put bacon on skillet, on low. Cook until slightly crisp, and drain on paper towel, before chopping roughly.

Spray deep frying pan with olive oil, sauteed onions until lightly brown, add kale to pan with water, cover pan, turn heat to low.

Tossing kale occasionally, cook until it has wilted down, turn off heat and set aside.

When potatoes and turnips are tender (turn off heat) and drain, then return to pot. Add butter, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Mash them but not to smooth of a consistency. A few lumps are part of the magic of this dish.

Add the cooked kale mixture to the pot of mashed potatoes and turnips and bacon. Stir thoroughly until incorporated and then serve.

This recipe serves 4.