Marian Platt

March offers us gentle spring weather in between winter’s last gasps. All it takes is a few of those sunny days to give us a sudden urge to go outside and start planting our summer gardens.

 

The first day of spring is March 20 but that doesn’t mean the cold weather is over, so we need to wait a bit longer to plant — except potatoes. Some believe they should be planted on St. Patrick’s Day.

 

Better yet, head down to Nash’s Organic Farm market and see what is available there. I found Ozette potatoes — small, long and bumpy — just right to go with that corned beef you plan to cook tomorrow for St. Patrick’s Day.

 

And savory cabbage — nice small heads. Savory cabbage is a mellow-flavored cabbage considered by many to be one of the best of its genre for cooking. Savoy cabbage has a loose, full head of crinkled leaves varying from dark to pale green — beautiful in coleslaw. The season for kale is coming to an end but it still is available, as are all potatoes — red, yellow and purple.

Colcannon is a favorite for St. Patrick’s Day dinner:
2 pounds cooked potatoes
1 pound cabbage, kale or spinach, chopped
small bunch of spring onions (scallions)
1¼ cups milk or cream
sprig of parsley
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
— recipe from The Rhyming Irish Cook Book

“Hot from the field” at Nash’s now are beets — and what could be more spring-like than baby beets? Here’s a beets recipe with a brown sugar vinaigrette.

Roasted Baby Beet Salad
First trim the tops, but leave part of the stems to ensure the colorful pigment remains inside the beet during roasting.
2 pounds assorted baby beets, with tops
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 cups loosely packed baby lettuces
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 cup lightly salted roasted pecan halves

Trim beet tops to 1/2-inch; gently wash. Place in a single layer in a shallow baking pan; drizzle with oil, tossing gently to coat. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 40 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes.

 

Peel beets and cut in half. Gently toss beets with 1/3 cup Brown Sugar Vinaigrette (below). Arrange lettuces on a platter; top with beet mixture, Gorgonzola cheese and pecans; serve with remaining vinaigrette.

Brown Sugar Vinaigrette
Whisk together 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar, 1 large shallot, minced, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each black pepper and vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Add 1/3 cup olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until smooth. Serves 6.

Or toss those roasted baby beets with diced avocado and fresh orange segments for a flavorful twist.

Sautéd Beet Greens
Sauté the baby beet greens — sauté 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced, in 1 teaspoon hot olive oil for 30 seconds. Add 8 cups fresh beet greens and sauté 2-3 minutes or until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.
— recipes from Southern Living Magazine

And don’t forget the Irish Soda Bread — it has been a part of special occasions in Ireland for generations and is based on the discovery that time could be saved by making bread with baking soda instead of yeast.

 

To make 1 loaf, mix 4 cups flour with 1/4 cup sugar,
1 teaspoon each salt and baking powder; stir in 2 tablespoons caraway seeds. Cut in 1/4 cup butter with pastry blender until flour mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in
2 cups raisins. Combine 1 1/3 cups buttermilk with 1 egg and
1 teaspoon baking soda; stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Turn dough onto a floured cloth; knead a few minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a greased 1½-qt. casserole. With a sharp knife, make a cross 1/4-inch deep in center. Brush bread with 1 beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon cream before baking. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
— recipe from my cook book, From My Kitchen Window

“May you walk down life’s road with a song in your heart,
May you always have health and good cheer,
May the luck of the Irish be with you
Throughout every day of the year.”

Marian Platt can be reached at 683-4691 or via e-mail at mlplatt@olypen.com.