Please help me pick another side for my St. Paddy's Party.....

[spunky_monkey]

So I'm having a St. Paddy's party on Sunday. I've done most of the shopping already, but feel like my menu's lacking something: mainly another veggie. So far, I plan to serve dishes than can mostly be prepared ahead of time, leaving me plenty of time to enjoy the party. Here's what I'm serving:

Baked ham & rolls, Cheesy Potato Gratin, Coleslaw, ????, Oatmeal Cookies, Sugar Cookies.

So, my menu's a little sparse on the veggies, unless you count the mayo-slathered cabbage as a veg. Tasty, yes. Heathly, no. I was thinking about making some type of dilled carrot salad for the other side dish, but then I thought that the sour in that dish might be a little similar to the coleslaw flavors.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Especially those dishes that could be either served at room temperature or could easily withstand being cooked in a crockpot for 3 hours.

[Erika L]

I ditto the colcannon suggestion. Another is to do something else with the taters and add a cabbage gratin. Even cabbage haters like it. You can search the 'net for a recipe but I basically chop the cabbage and parboil and shock it, then fold it into a veloute/bechamel mish mash (I use part stock and part milk) and stir in some grated Gruyere, then turn it into a casserole dish and bake. It's a very forgiving dish that tolerates a variety of oven temps and baking times--the ingredients are all cooked, you're just heating everything together and melding flavors.

[mnosyne]

How about colcannon? It's mashed potatoes with butter and cooked cabbage. I don't have a recipe but I'm sure there are many on line.

[pengcast]

I had forgotten about colcannon. My Irish mother-in-law used to make it from leftovers. Her other variation was mashed potatoes with sauerkraut. The only thing that made in edible for me was that she often add a small amount of bacon -- grease and all.

[pengcast]

Well clearly this is not an Irish meal. Because in Ireland one would be happy to have one veggie and it would likely be fried or boiled way too long. Having been to Ireland several times, I continue to be surprised at how few veggies we were served in pretty nice restaurants if they were outside of Dublin.

Why not go for something with a sauce of guiness or irish whiskey? Large carrot pieces sauted with onions topped a irish whiskey and brown sugar sauce would be easy and stand up a long time. Turnips are a big favourite in Ireland and can be done all kinds of ways. Again with the whiskey sauce.

Maybe a micro green salad because many of the micro greens look like shamrock (clover) sprouts. You could even par boil carrots and cut them out in the shape of shamrocks.

[coll]

Here's what I'm doing: three salads that represent the three colors (colours!) of the Irish Flag. Broccoli salad for green, Cole Slaw for white, and Carrot Salad for orange. I;'m doing the broccoli with Asian dressing and the carrots Morroccan style, so it won't be all mayonaissy.

[nofunlatte]

On the Peeps Cuisine thread, a chowhound mentioned bringing green peeps to St. Patty's Day party ;)

[NYchowcook]

How about a mixed green salad w/ roasted beets, goat cheese and toasted walnuts (& red peppers instead of beets) w/ a vinaigrette. Adds green (and red color)

Or an apple, celery, pear and walnut salad w/ lemon juice, parsley, capers, olive oil & S&P. That's seasonal -- and refreshing, particularly w/ the heavy ham and taters. Though mostly white, and you have alot of white going on w/ the rolls and potatoes.

[wildfire]

I really like the mixed green salad idea (goat cheese is one of my favorites, so that sounds really good)

[cassoulady]

how about roasted brussel sprouts

[Diane in Bexley]

Well, green is a big color for St. Parick Day's, why not grilled or roasted asparagus? It's often on sale this time of year. You can serve grilled/roasted asparagus in advance and serve at room temperature.