Green recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Traditionally, pubs and restaurants serve corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day. But there are tasty, green recipes—three of them offered here this week—that can help you celebrate any day of the week.

Spinach pancakes are a good side dish at dinner with a parsley sauce, as the main dish for lunch with cheese and fruit on the side, or for breakfast with fresh berries or lingonberry sauce and Canadian bacon.

A few years ago in a small bistro in Provence, my friends and I feasted on delicious stuffed cabbage made with salt pork, sausage, chard, peas, and tomatoes that took our taste buds by surprise at that time. This week, I’m offering an updated version that combines leeks, chard, cabbage, and peas into a delicious, but lighter, dish that’s perfect to serve with roast meat or poultry or crusty bread.

This week’s green tartar sauce was created by Lee Bailey, who was one of my neighbors down the street. His cookbooks are too numerous to mention, but this seemingly little tartar sauce has loomed large on restaurant menus and home cooks’ tables for the past 20-some years. It tastes great with fish or seafood, whether the fish is fried, sautéed, broiled, baked, grilled, or steamed. Try it and you’ll agree it’s the best. Bon appetit!

Spinach Pancakes

(Serves 6 to 8)1 pound spinach, blanched, drained, squeezed dry, and finely chopped; or 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry6 scallions, trimmed and minced1½ cups milk1 teaspoon sea salt1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg1 cup all purpose flour2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, and cooled2 eggs1/2 teaspoon sugarAbout 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softenedFor the parsley sauce:About 2 tablespoons unsalted butter1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves removed and finely choppedSea salt and freshly ground black pepper to tasteTo prepare:

Working in the food processor or blender, add milk, salt, nutmeg and flour, and process until blended.

Add melted butter, eggs and sugar, and pulse to blend.

Add spinach and scallions and process until well blended.

Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom of a heavy griddle or skillet set over high heat with about one teaspoon of soft butter.

When the pan is very hot, drop two tablespoons of the batter onto the skillet and use a spoon or spatula to spread it out to about a 3-inch pancake.

Cook until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes on the first side, then 2 minutes on the flip side. Cook only as many pancakes at a time as the skillet will accommodate.

Add more butter to the pan as necessary until all the pancakes are cooked. Transfer to a warm platter and loosely cover with foil to keep them hot.

Add the last two tablespoons of butter to the skillet, when the foam subsides and begins to brown, add chopped parsley, sauté briefly, taste and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon a little parsley sauce on hot pancakes and serve at once.

Cabbage, Chard, Leeks, 
and Peas Provencal

(Serves 6)2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil or unsalted butter, or more if necessary 2 medium leeks, white parts only, trimmed, washed, and thinly sliced3 large cloves garlic, minced1/2 pound chard, tough stems removed, leaves chopped1 head green cabbage, trimmed, cored and shredded1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes or more to tasteSea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to tasteAbout 1/2 cup good quality chicken stock1 cup extra fancy petit pois (baby peas), defrostedTo prepare:

Coat with olive oil the bottom of a large skillet over medium high heat.

Add the leeks and sauté until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add garlic and continue sautéing until aromatic, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the chard and cabbage plus the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste and sauté until the vegetables glisten, about 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock, cover the pan and lower the heat, and braise the vegetables until they are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Remove the cover, add the peas and toss well.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a warm serving dish. Taste and correct the seasonings.

If there are juices left in the pan, raise the heat and deglaze, then drizzle the glaze over the vegetables and serve at once.

Lee’s Tartar Sauce for Fish

(Yields 1 generous cup)1 cup good quality (or homemade) mayonnaise2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves3 scallions, trimmed with about 3 inches of the green top, finely chopped1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives1 tablespoon tiny capers1 tablespoon finely chopped sweet pickle1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustardPinch sea salt or fresh lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper, to taste2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill for garnishTo prepare:

Whisk the mayonnaise with parsley, scallions, chives, capers, pickle, and mustard until well blended.

Add salt or lemon juice and pepper according to taste.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Add dill just before serving with your favorite fish.