Healthy St Patrick’s Day recipes

Feb 28, 2009 11:58 AM by Michele Borboa, MS

Posted in Food & Recipes / Kitchen & Cooking Tips / Holiday & Seasonal Recipes / Celebrations

Healthy Recipes
For St Paddy’S

Looking forward to the Irish-inspired revelry of St Patrick's Day? Undoubtedly, this happy-go-lucky March holiday gives people a chance to get together and celebrate - whether it is by doing the downtown pub crawl or by tipping green beers at home. If you are on a diet, however, the usual St Patrick's Day recipes can result in a disappointing belt-busting set-back. But, don't let that deter you from partaking in the fun - just follow these diet tips and give these five guilt-free St Paddy's Day recipes a try. Cheers!

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Traditional Irish recipes

You can find the following two recipes in the Weight Watchers Now & Later Cookbook.

Pressure-Cooker Corned Beef

Serves 4

For this Irish recipes, corned beef and cabbage, a traditional St Patrick's Day dish, is cooked to perfection in a pressure cooker.

Ingredients:
1 (3-pound) low-sodium corned beef, trimmed
1 large onion, quartered through the root end
2 teaspoons pickling spice
1-1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved
3/4 pound rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 (2-pound) head green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
1/4 cup whole-grain mustard

Directions:
1. Place the beef, onion, pickling spice and enough cold water to cover in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cover and bring up to high pressure according to the manufacturers' instructions. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle, steady release of the pressure. Cook until the beef is fork-tender, 1 hour, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain constant pressure.

2. Remove the cooker from the heat and reduce the pressure quickly according to the manufacturers' instructions. With tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil.

3. Place the potatoes, rutabaga, carrots, and cabbage in the cooking liquid. Return the cooker to the heat and bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle, steady release of the pressure. Cook until the vegetables are tender, 5 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and reduce the pressure quickly. Discard the cooking liquid.

4. Cut the beef crosswise in half. Transfer half of the vegetables (6 cups) and half of the beef to a container and let cool. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 days for later use in Corned Beef Hash. Cut the remaining half of the beef across the grain into 12 slices. Serve with the remaining vegetables and the mustard.

Corned Beef Hash

A tasty way to use leftovers and carry the St Patrick's Day spirit into the next couple of days.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds reserved cooked corned beef from Pressure-Cooker Corned Beef
6 cups reserved cooked vegetables from Pressure-Cooker Corned Beef
4 scallions
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:
1. Coarsely chop the beef and vegetables and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the scallions, mustard, and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable mixture and spread evenly to cover the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Cook, turning occasionally, until heated through and vegetables are golden, about 8 minutes.

Editor's Note: For POINTS Values for pub grub recipes and to learn more about Weight Watchers New Momentum Program, visit www.WeightWatchers.com. And be sure to pick up Weight Watchers Now & Later Cookbook for more healthy everyday recipes.