Happy Foodie Friday! It’s just a few days before one of my favorite holidays of the year … St. Patrick’s Day! I love St. Patrick’s Day because it’s a holiday that so many people get excited and happy about, whether they’re Irish or not. All you have to do to be “Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day is be cheerful, wear green, and drink a beer (or several). If you’re not into beer, don’t worry – I’m not either! I’ve got you covered with so much green food that you’ll forget about the beer (or is it supposed to go the other way?) 🙂(picture source)
My family is very Irish, and growing up, my mom always made as much of our food green-colored as possible on St. Patrick’s Day. I havesuchfun memories of guessing what we would be eating … Green mashed potatoes? Green milk? Green eggs? In those days, we probably went through a whole bottle of green food coloring on a single holiday, but this year, I’m going to help you play along with the green food game … all naturally, of course. Get ready for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, green-style … with a few recipes thrown in!
Breakfast
My green breakfast features either a “St. Patrick’s Day Green Egg Scramble” or green egg muffins, avocado, and my “PureHealth in a Glass” juice. Here are a few recipes!
“Pure Health in a Glass” Juice
by Megan Lyons
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Keywords: raw beverage low-carb sugar-free vegan vegetarian gluten-free vegetables
Ingredients (4 small glasses)
- 1 carrot (I left the greens on; this is optional)
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 cucumber (I used 2 baby cucumbers and about 1/4 large cucumber)
- 1/4 head iceberg or romaine lettuce
- 1/2 lemon, peeled
- small nub ginger, peeled
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a juicer, and let it roll!
The juice contains only about 15-20 calories per serving.
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St. Patrick’s Day Green Egg Scramble
by Megan Lyons
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: saute breakfast gluten-free low-carb soy-free nut-free vegetarian eggs kale brussels sprouts vegetables St. Patrick’s Day
Ingredients (1 serving)
- 4 leaves kale, stem removed
- Eggs to your hunger level and nutrition needs (I used 1 whole egg and 4 egg whites)
- Assorted vegetables (I used zucchini, broccoli slaw, a parsnip, and some leftover roasted Brussels sprouts)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a high-speed blender, blend eggs and kale. This is optional, but gives the whole scramble the green color!
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté remaining vegetables. When vegetables start to brown, pour in kale and egg mixture, and cook, stirring regularly, until set.
Top with avocado and enjoy!
Nutrition will depend on vegetables and eggs used.
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If you prefer the egg muffins instead, I basically blended steamed broccoli, arugula, eggs, spices, salt, and pepper, poured in a muffin tin, and baked about 25 minutes on 375. I do this regularly and change up the veggies and spices all the time!
If you’re going to be partying St. Patrick’s Day night away, you might as well cram in your nutrients in the morning! While I don’t subscribe to the belief that juice cleanses are a “magic bullet” for weight loss, I do enjoy a small amount of healthy green juice on many mornings with my breakfast – it’s a great way to pack in some extra antioxidants at a meal where green often slips by. (If you haven’t yet downloaded my pdf, “7 Nutrition Myths that Will Change How You Eat Every Day,” get it now because there’s a section on the myth of juicing and weight loss!)
Lunch
Lunch is so simple that you don’t even get a recipe. A salad is the easiest way to make your meal green! Here, I had a big salad (I often use the plastic shell that my greens come in as a bowl when I’m near the end – very efficient for clean up, and allows you to make a really large salad!) with some heated leftovers on top, plus some extra green in the form of veggies on the side.
Dinner
If my dinner isn’t a homemade soup, you can probably bet that it will be a pile of roasted veggies, a lean protein, and often a side of complex carbs. Good news for us on St. Patrick’s’ Day, because that dinner fits our requirement of being green! Here, I enjoyed baked sole with lemon and slivered almonds, roasted mushrooms/ zucchini/ broccoli slaw/ Brussels sprouts, and the star of the show … “Luck O’ The Irish Mashed ‘Potatoes’!”
This low-carb mashed cauliflower dish has a velvety texture just like mashed potatoes, and the arugula gives it not only a great green color, but also a powerful peppery flavor. The creaminess of the yogurt and the nutritional yeast round it out well, but I’ve heard from several of you that you are “scared” of nutritional yeast, so feel free to substitute grated Parmesan or leave it out all together.
Luck O’ The Irish Green Mashed “Potatoes”
by Megan Lyons
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10minutes
Keywords: steam blender side gluten-free low-carb nut-free vegetarian soy-free cauliflower vegetables yogurt
Ingredients (4 servings (as a side dish))
- 5 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 3 cups arugula, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used full-fat)
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional, or feel free to substitute Parmesan)
- 2 tsp. olive oil
Instructions
In microwave-safe, covered bowl, microwave cauliflower in 1 inch of water for 8 minutes, or until soft.
Add all ingredients to high-powered blender, and blend until pureed.
Enjoy!
Each serving contains 4g fat, 9g carbs, 5g protein
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Wasn’t that a delicious and nutritious way to get in three green meals? Regardless of what you eat, I hope you have a happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day weekend!
So tell me in the comments …Are you Irish? If not, do you “pretend” to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day? Any fun St. Patty’s traditions or plans?
Katieon March 17, 2014 at 1:56 am
Love St. Paddy’s Day! We not only go through an entire bottle of green food coloring, I have often had to resort to using yellow and blue too! I should have read these recipes earlier so I could have breakfast ingredients on hand, they look delicious. I’ll have to try them on another day 🙂 Do you think if I made the egg muffins they would freeze ok? I’ve been looking for breakfasts that I can cook ahead of time and the kids can just heat up int eh morning.
Reply
Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:30 pm
Katie, the egg muffins are perfect for freezing!! They are not so great if you take them out of the freezer and microwave them immediately, but if you let them defrost in the fridge and then heat them up, they’re perfect! It’s a great option to have handy. Would Brendan eat tomatoes or any kind of vegetable? You can throw anything in there and it adds a fun texture! Some of my favorites are zucchini, acorn squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, and broccoli.
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GiGi Eats Celebritieson March 14, 2014 at 6:49 pm
Are you going to REMAKE this menu on Monday???!!!??! I am green with envy over this deliciousness!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:05 pm
I did NOT remake the menu, Gigi, but I did have some pretty good green eats!! Hope you did, too!
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Amanda @ .running with spoons.on March 14, 2014 at 6:42 pm
😆 I had to laugh at your comment about nutritional yeast because that was TOTALLY me back in the day. The idea of eating yeast totally skeeved me out, but I was totally smitten after my first taste. That being said, I’m a huge fan of parmesan as well 😀
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:04 pm
YES! The name kept me from trying it at first, too … I mean, “nutritional yeast” is probably the most disgusting sounding name for a health food ever. But it’s SO worth it! I love parmesan, too – no discrimination when it comes to cheesy flavors in my house!
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Arman @ thebigmansworldon March 14, 2014 at 5:44 pm
Um… I will indeed be voting because I MADE IT haha and can attest it is awesome!
I am not Irish but apparently, they are the biggest potato fans out there so I guess I am Irish. 😉
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:02 pm
Thanks for the vote, Arman! Yes – potato fan totally means you’re Irish :). Hope you celebrated!
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Kimon March 14, 2014 at 4:28 pm
I love the breakfast recipe – I’ve been trying to figure out what to do on Monday and might start the day with that recipe!!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:02 pm
Amy @ Long Drive Journeyon March 14, 2014 at 2:27 pm
Haha I had to laugh at your comment about nutritional yeast! What’s there to be scared of?? I put it in my chickpea gravy and it tastes amazing. I think it’s one of the best copycat food flavors that there is!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:01 pm
I honestly think it’s the name. Kevin and his entire family are terrified of it, but they also don’t like eggplant because it’s called eggplant … they are funny with names like that. And really, “nutritional yeast” does sound pretty nasty. But it’s SO good!
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Lauren @ Focused To Be Fiton March 14, 2014 at 1:39 pm
I’m not Irish, but I sure do play along for SPD! My boyfriend and I took Monday off and even a half day on Tuesday, just in case we need a little extra sleep! 😉 We’ll be celebrating downtown Cleveland with bar hopping and the parade!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:01 pm
I love it!!! Hopefully you and your boyfriend are having a blast out right now … and good luck with the recovery tomorrow!
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Cassie @ Rural Running Redheadon March 14, 2014 at 9:05 am
That mashed cauliflower looks delicious! These are all fun recipes 🙂
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:00 pm
Thanks, Cassie! I hope you enjoy some of them!
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Davida @ The Healthy Mavenon March 14, 2014 at 8:20 am
Voted!!!!! You better win. I’ll tell Curt to sign onto his facebook and like it too 🙂 Or I’ll just start creating fake accounts!
Confession, I’ve always wanted to be Irish but I am very much not! I’ll be celebrating like I come from a long line of Irish blood this weekend though. Hopefully my dark skin and hair don’t give it away 😉
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 11:00 pm
Thank you for your votes, friend! I am glad to see via Instagram that you celebrated St. Patrick’s Day despite not being Irish … that’s why I love the holiday – EVERYONE can be “Irish” today! And if anyone questions you, ask if they recently hosted a hugely awesome Green Food Link Up in honor of the holiday. 😉
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Rachelon March 14, 2014 at 8:13 am
Hi Megan!!
These look awesome! For the mashed cauliflower recipe, about how many heads of cauliflower do you need in order to get 5 cups chopped? I have only bought frozen cauliflower in the past!!
Also, do you think melted coconut oil would work in place of olive oil?Reply
Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 10:58 pm
Hey Rachel! I had one HUGE head of cauliflower and I used about 1/2 of it. You could definitely use frozen cauliflower, too! Just defrost/ microwave it first and dump in about 5-6 cups (because I think the frozen kind seems more wilted/ compact after defrosting … although that might just be in my head). Melted coconut oil would definitely work … I’ve been increasing my use of coconut oil lately, too!
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Christine @ Gotta Eat Greenon March 14, 2014 at 8:13 am
So many great Irish eats! I am definitely recreating that health juice when I get home, looks delicious! I’m not Irish but Grant is so he gets very excited about St. Patricks day. I put on my green and drink/eat all things green right along with him!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 10:57 pm
I hope you liked the juice, Christine! So easy but tasty. Hope you guys had a great St. Patricks’ Day!
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Sara @ LovingOnTheRunon March 14, 2014 at 8:13 am
Love this! I have never paid much attention to St Patrick’s day honestly because we don’t drink beer very much (or at all) and that is pretty much whatever everyone does here to celebrated. Now you have challenged me to find some fun green recipes for this weekend 🙂
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 10:57 pm
I hope you found some fun green recipes, Sara, and enjoyed your day!
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Michael Andersonon March 14, 2014 at 6:51 am
A decided lack of desserts … due to your ‘sugar purge’? 🙂
Seriously, I love all of these recipes – and also love the look of the post, the way your theme blends into the green, and the recipe plug-in just rocks.
I’m 25% ‘Murphy’, so I totally get the over-the-top greed food thing! And like you, our green will come from more natural sources (loving kale these days – I’m a believer that there is no ‘late to the party’ with healthy foods … just as long as you get there!)
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 10:56 pm
Yes! No desserts on my mini reset, although the reset that I’m going to launch for clients is much less stringent than the one I’m completing now! THANK you for those nice comments about the recipes and the way the post looks. I’m loving the new site, too – always room for improvement (there’s the perfectionist in me!), but it does look so much cleaner. I laughed on your comment on no ‘late to the party’ … totally true, but had me envisioning you 10 years behind on all the trends … eating Snackwells in 2014 with your eBOOST hat on. Ha!
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Linda @ Fit Fed and Happyon March 14, 2014 at 6:12 am
I never thought about using the blender for eggs and kale…or any cooked dish. Thanks for the recipe!
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Megan Lyonson March 17, 2014 at 10:54 pm
Of course, Linda! I hope you enjoy it!
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