Community Corner

Eating Green For St. Patrick's Day

Vegetarian and green options for a traditional Irish dish.

By Courtney Jansson

Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day?

Local supermarkets are geared up for the big day, March 17, a day where everyone is Irish.

Find out what's happening in Mansfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Green bagels, cookies and cakes as well as Irish soda bread are stocked in full at the bakeries.

However, sweets are not what are most craved on this green holiday.

Find out what's happening in Mansfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Corned beef and cabbage is one of the most popular and most craved dishes to eat in celebration of Ireland's most beloved saint.

While corned beef and cabbage is extremely delicious, most restaurants serve up a rather unhealthy version of this dish.

However, with a few tweaks to the recipe, corned beef and cabbage can be made right at home and healthy as well. It should be noted that the cabbage part of the meal is very healthy for you, for it's rich in vitamins and amino acids.

Tips for a lean corned beef and cabbage:

1. Purchase the leanest corned beef you can find.

2. Make sure to rinse the beef thoroughly and trim off the fat before cooking.

3. A general rule of thumb for cooking the beef is, for every pound, cook for a little over an hour to gain tenderness.

4. Add in extra vegetables. To make this dish healthy, the more veggies to beef ratio will work in your favor. Baby carrots, cabbage, onions and turnips all work to compliment the beef.

5. A vegetarian option for this dish would be to replace the beef with cut potatoes. Another option would be to roast your potatoes in the oven with olive oil and vinegar.

Eating green and wearing green is what it is all about this St. Patrick's Day.

I hope you have a great holiday!


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mansfield