BINGHAMTON, NY – The nutrition educators at Cornell Cooperative Extension are celebrating National Nutrition Month with a focus on potatoes.

And they’re honoring Saint Patrick’s Day by sharing a traditional Irish dish made from the edible tubers.

This month, Kathleen Cook is preparing colcannon for us.

It’s essentially mashed potatoes mixed with a leafy green, such as cabbage or kale, onion, butter, milk and salt and pepper.

Cook says colcannon is a hearty and filling meal that’s easy to make.

Cook says there are about as many variations on colcannon as there are counties in Ireland.
And she says it can be a great vehicle for vegetables you don’t usually care for.

“If you don’t like cabbage very much or you don’t like kale very much, sautéing it and putting it with a wonderful comfort food like mashed potatoes makes it really delicious. But it also adds a lot of fiber,” says Cook.

In addition to the fiber, Cook says potatoes are rich in vitamin C and potassium.

She says some choose to boil and mash some carrots with the potatoes to add some additional color.

Potatoes are typically harvested at the end of the growing season and can remain fresh for months if stored in a cool, dry environment.

Watch Cook make the dish: