Saturday

Beggerman's stew(recipe in the comments from March 8th, 2008)
Irish-style salad with Shanagarry cream dressing
Beer and Irish hard cider!

Hot tea
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It may seem like we took a week off of our Irish celebration, but we were excited to get to have dinner at an Irish pub one night while we were on vacation (AND one amazing breakfast at an Irish tea house). That said, we're back to celebrating at home with a vengeance. Tonight is our favorite vegetarian Irish meal, a rich root vegetable soup and the most wonderful salad of all time. This meal always seems very wholesome and super satisfying to me and it's one we repeat each year around this time. We have even made this for St. Patrick's Day itself when we're having vegetarian guests. This year we're on our own so it's our traditional Corned Beef Three Ways for next Tuesday. We haven't made a new Irish recipe yet this year though, so I think we will carry St. Patrick's season a bit past the big day and make something new next week. Stay tuned!

Note: We have found that this really doesn't save well, so this year we only made a half recipe.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Rutabaga, onion, potatoes, parsley, watercress, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: I would do the stew last minute so the veggies don't absorb too much broth, but the salads can be composed ahead and dressed at the last minute (or at the table).

Reaction
J: "It's a wonder we don't think of more vegetarian Irish meals!"
M: "Real Irish fare."

Saturday

Dublin parsnip colcannon (recipe in the comments)
Bangers
Pickled beet salad with scallions

Hot tea
Winter peach pie (yep, homemade!)
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Michael and I have begun our annual celebration of our non-Irish heritage! M and I together represent many geographical areas, but Ireland is, sadly for us, not among them. Our annual exploration of Irish fare was prompted by my mom (L) unexpectedly purchasing an Irish cookbook for us several years ago. We were initially surprised by this gift, but both ended up reading the cookbook as a pleasure book (yes, we are that nerdy) and were fascinated by the variety of foods and the wonderful prose accompanying the recipes. We found ourselves wanting to try more Irish recipes. So each year (and it seems to start earlier and earlier each year) as St. Patrick's Day approaches, we begin having Irish themed meals. It's a great tradition! The Dublin-style parsnip colcannon is a wonderful blend of mashed parsnips and potatoes with kale. It's a glorious green color and wonderfully tasty. We made it early this afternoon (along with the pie) and reheated it when we grilled the bangers (Irish style sausages). I looked forward to this dinner ALL day and it didn't disappoint!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Potatoes, parsnips, kale, beets, scallions
Time: 45 minutes
Make ahead: I'd do the bangers last minute, but everything else saves well.

Reaction
J: "You don't have to be Irish to love this dinner!"
M: "Food even a leprechaun could love!"