Green Eats For St. Patrick's Day
For most kids—and many adults—green St. Patrick's Day foods involve cupcakes, pancakes and other doughy foods turned festive with the magic of food coloring! While there's nothing wrong with green pancakes or green eggs and ham, there are many slightly more appetizing ways to celebrate the Irish holiday.
Kick up your St. Patrick's Day cooking this year with these delicious green food ideas:
Pesto
Pesto is an easy way to make anything bright green and is a lot more flavorful than food coloring. Mix it into any pasta for a bright green main course, and if you want to go the extra mile, use spinach flavored pasta and add in spinach for a triple-green meal. Pesto is also a great way to add flavor and some bulk to lots of vegetarian recipes, from scrambled eggs to sandwiches and wraps.
Tacos
If you think the only green part of a taco is the lettuce, think again! Load up spinach tortillas with salsa verde, guacamole and shredded lettuce for a spicy green meal; using grilled chicken and a white cheese like mozzarella or queso fresco will keep the green and white St. Patrick's Day theme going strong.
Quiche
A spinach or broccoli quiche is a delicious and healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner for St. Patrick's Day and will provide you with plenty of green color. Make your favorite veggie-filled quiche recipe with egg whites to make the green vegetables extra prominent.
Fruit Salad
Have you ever considered just how many green fruits there are? Cut up some honey dew, kiwi, granny smith apples, pears and green grapes and you've got yourself a sweet St. Patrick's Day fruit salad! It doesn't get any easier than a fruit salad and is another healthier option for your holiday.
Key Lime Pie
Aside from mint chocolate chip ice cream, green desserts are few and far between. One green dessert that always gets forgotten about, however, is key lime pie! Although the green color isn't too bright, topping your pie with a few decorative lime slices will make it much more festive. Try this easy real cream recipe for a frozen key lime pie perfect for ringing in spring weather.
Skip the food coloring this year and try out one of these green ideas for a festive, good-food-filled St. Patrick's Day.
This is a guest post by Meredith K. on behalf of ConAgra Foods®.