Green Mashed Potatoes

In honor of St. Patrick's Day...

Last week I saw this recipe for Mashed Potatoes with Greens on Mark Bittman's weekly Minimalist column and video. They sounded good but we are quite far from having spring greens like dandelions or arugula. So we used kale instead.
The basics are that you peel and cube the potatoes and cook in water. Then spoon the potatoes out and blanch the kale. Rinse in cold water and roughly chop the kale. Mash the potatoes with lots of olive oil, add the kale and salt and pepper. Top with bread crumbs and olive oil and brown in the oven. Find more details on this recipe page.

One bunch of kale turned out to be a little much for the pound of mashed potatoes. As I stirred the kale into the potatoes, I withheld some that we'll use another day.

As the kale and potatoes browned in the oven, some of the green color leached from the kale into the potatoes, a lovely side effect.We enjoyed these with some spicy chicken thighs, though the level of spice on the chicken tended to overpower the mild flavor of the green potatoes. We'll be making them again with a wider variety of greens come spring. It was just the right amount for the two of us, leaving some leftovers for the next day's lunch.