- I wanted to share two fun and delicious recipes with you. Seeing as this time in March with Patrick's Day in the middle of the month so many blogs and newsletters share recipes for Irish Coffees and hearty food like Guinness Beef Stew, I wanted to share something on the healthier side. The first recipe is for "Beginner's Luck" Green Smoothie, and the other is for Irish Soda Bread from the famous Ballymaloe Irish Cooking School in my hometown of Cork, Ireland. Both are super easy and have very few ingredients so can be made very quickly.
"Beginner's Luck" Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup mango frozen
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1 banana (if you don't like bananas, add more pineapple and mango)
Instructions:
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Measure: Tightly pack spinach in a measuring cup.
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Add: Put spinach to blender with water. Blend together until all chunks are gone. (Should resemble green water when blended well).
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Toss: Pineapple, mango and banana to blender. Frozen pineapple and mangoes chills the smoothie down without having to add ice cubes. It also saves time cutting and prepping.
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Blend: It all together until smooth and creamy. Depending on your blender, this could take as little as 30 seconds or as long as 2 minutes.
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Pour: Into a glass and serve immediately.
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Store: In the fridge with a lid until ready to drink.
Recipe from simplegreensmoothies.com
My second recipe is for traditional Irish White Soda Bread. White is the version that most Americans are familiar with, but we also make brown soda bread. This recipe from the Ballymaloe Cooking School had the best soda bread and scones I've ever tasted when I visited there.
Irish Soda Bread
Preheat the oven to 475 F (250 Celcius)
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (or 450g)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 3/4 cups of buttermilk (you can add a little more if the buttermilk is thick and you need a little more liquid if mixture is on the dry side). Optional: raisins
Instructions: In a large bowl, sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the bowl.
Pour in the milk. Using 1 hand, with your fingers stiff and outstretched like a claw, stir in a full circular movement from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever increasing circles. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. Wash and dry your hands. Tidy it up and flip over gently. Pat the dough into a round, about 4cm deep. Cut a deep cross on the loaf and prick in the four corners.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 475 and then turn down to 400 F (or 200 C) for 30 minutes until baked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread, when it is cooked it will sound hollow. Cool on a wire rack.
Tip! Soda breads are best eaten on the day they are made, but are still good the next day.
You can also watch Darina from Ballymaloe make the loaf by clicking on the link below.
Happy Eating and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Ciara
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