St. Patrick’s Day is March 17 and that wonderful “Wearin’ O’ The Green” day is nearly here again for us yet another year!
That’s such very good news for lots of us, especially if we have even just a wee bit of real Irish ancestry to brag about, even more substantially so if we have a really big bounty of Irish heritage which contributes to making us what and who we are.
Many of us may, at this time each year, be busily trying to track down in our own personal heritage some evidence of Irish origins, hoping that the popular phrase “luck-of-the-Irish” just might be ours in helping us find that we can indeed take pride in successfully tracing our biological heritage back to Ireland.
That is because being Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day is just too good a celebrative fun time to miss out on being part of it.
Whatever our national origins are, however, we surely can enjoy celebrating our just feeling Irish on that day.
With another festive and fun St. Pat’s Day rolling around again, Kitchen Kapers is largely and most joyfully celebrating St. Patrick’s Day 2016 here on this page with, of course, recipes for some great tasting green foods.
Lots of us will be busy with our St. Pat’s Day annual tradition of cooking and serving assorted green veggies and fruits.
Those St. Patrick’s Day menus might include green cabbage, lettuce and cucumbers, green beans, green peppers, peas, spinach, green apples, green pears and anything else that is green and edible and healthful, as most or all green veggies and fruits are.
The color green is in so many ways such a vital part of eating healthily. Cooking and serving lots of healthful green foods in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day can also mean we’re creating some very healthful as well as delicious meals.
Thanks, as always, to all of this week’s recipes providers, the creators of all our many Apopka area cookbooks through the past years.
SARAH RICH’S ASPARAGUS CASSEROLE
A recipe from First Baptist Church of Apopka’s cookbook Taste & See
Ritz cracker crumbs (amount as needed)
2 cans asparagus spears, drained, juice reserved
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 egg, beaten with juice from the canned asparagus
8 ounces grated Cheddar cheese
Layer the Ritz cracker crumbs in bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Add layers in this order: one can of asparagus spears, the mushroom soup, half of the Cheddar cheese, one can of asparagus spears and more cracker crumbs. Top with the rest of the Cheddar cheese. Pour the egg and asparagus juice mixture over the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
MILDRED QUINN’S BROCCOLI WITH WATER CHESTNUTS AND RICE
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Partners in the Kitchen: From Our House To Yours
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup cooked rice
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, chopped
1 16-ounce package frozen broccoli, thawed
1 eight-ounce jar Cheez Whiz
Saute the onion and celery in butter in saucepan until tender. Stir in the rice, soup, water chestnuts, broccoli and cheese. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.
(Note: One cup of chopped cooked chicken may also be added to the mix before baking if you wish.)
TRACEY DAVISON’S STIR-FRIED BROCCOLI
Recipe from Kathleen Jackson’s and Tracey Davison’s Women On The Move Cookbook
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Hot pepper flakes (optional)
1-1/2 pounds broccoli florets
1/4 cup water (or chicken broth)
Salt and pepper, amounts to your taste
In a non-stick pan, toast the sesame seeds for about two minutes, or until lightly brown. Place seeds aside. In the same pan, heat the oil, soy sauce and hot pepper flakes. (The hot pepper flakes are optional.)
Add the broccoli and stir-fry for about two minutes. Add water and cover the pot. Cook for about two minutes and then stir in the sesame seeds. Add salt and pepper, amount of your choice.
Recipe yields four servings of Stir-Fry Broccoli.
CAROLYN DORMAN’S “ARLENE’S YUM-YUM SPINACH”
Recipe from First Baptist Church of Apopka’s Taste & See
2 packages frozen chopped spinach
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 pint sour cream
1-1/2 cups Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing
1 stick butter
Cook spinach according to package directions. Drain well. Combine onion soup mix and sour cream. Add spinach and marinate several hours or overnight. Put in a casserole dish. Toss stuffing with melted butter and sprinkle over top of spinach mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until browned.
GEORGE LAPIERRE’S “BEST TASTING SPINACH DIP”
2 pkgs Knorr Vegetable Dip and Soup mix
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 (16-ounce) container sour cream
1 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1/2 cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
Chop the spinach and place in mixing bowl. Add sour cream, mayonnaise, one package soup mix and just the veggies from the other package of soup mix. (Powdered seasonings may be used later in stew, etc.) Add the water chestnuts and the green onions.
Cover and chill the dip for two hours to blend flavors. Stir well before serving. Serve with bread or pita chips for dipping.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY’S MINT BROWNIES
Recipe from Partners In The Kitchen: From Our House To Yours
Brownies:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine, softened
4 eggs
1 (16 ounce) can chocolate syrup
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting:
1/2 cup margarine, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Green food coloring
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup chocolate chips
In a bowl, combine the sugar, half-cup of softened margarine, eggs, chocolate syrup, flour and baking powder. Mix well in the bowl. Pour into a greased cake roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and chill for 20 minutes or until cooled.
In a bowl, mix half a cup of margarine, confectioner’s sugar, milk, peppermint extract and the green food coloring. Spread over the baked layer. Chill for 20 minutes or until cooled.
Melt one-half cup margarine and the chocolate chips in saucepan. Pour over the peppermint layer. Chill in refrigerator. Cut into squares.
PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Partners In The Kitchen
2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside. In mixer bowl, cream the peanut butter and margarine until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and vanilla. Beat well.
Beat in the eggs. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat well.
Spread in greased 8- by 8-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until top looks dry and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack and cut into two-inch squares.