Colcannon (for the 21st Century)

A lot of people here at Brown University talk about kale as though it was a new thing that they discovered. "Have you heard of kale?" "Have you tried kale?" "This is what I do with kale." It's crazy, but it's true: kale is breaking news for many American hipsters. However, kale has been massive in Western European foods since the Middle Ages - no joke. It's a massive staple in German, Dutch, Irish and British traditional cooking, along with cabbage. Nevertheless, I find Brown students talk about kale as though it emerged out of a Kickstarter.

Colcannon is one of the earliest examples of traditional Irish food, a concept lost among modern, urban Irish folks - unfortunately. I never had colcannon until I had the almost identical Dutch dish, boerenkool, in my friend's brother's apartment in Amsterdam, 2 and a half years ago. Strange, because I'm Irish and grew up eating mashed potatoes at least 4 days a week. Colcannon never found me, but I found it. Colcannon is often eaten with bacon/sausage bits, and if you have a veggie version without them it tends to be a little bland. So I decided that I needed a way to jazz up and reinvent this promising, nourishing dish. Tomato and feta came to the rescue.

Normally you mash everything together, to make colcannon,
 but I liked the idea of a bed of kale resting
 on a bed of potatoes. I'm not really sure why.

Serves 4 homesick Irish vegetarians

Ingredients:
2 large Rooster potatoes
⅓ cup warm milk
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (optional, chives are good too, but I find rosemary is the quintessential potato-friendly herb)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ bunch of kale, rinsed, chopped and with stalks removed.
1 large tomato, sliced and chopped into small pieces
1 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup vegetable stock

Mashed potato method:
Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks. Add to a saucepan of water and bring to the boil.
Allow to cook until the potatoes begin to break when stabbed with a fork - likely around 10 minutes on a medium-high heat.
Drain away the water and mash ferociously with a masher, or fork.
Add pepper, warm milk, rosemary and butter, and stir with a wooden spoon.

Kale mixture method (to be made while potatoes are cooking):
In a frying pan or skillet, heat olive oil on a medium heat. Add the kale and garlic and cook until wilting, about 3 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Add stock and chilli powder and allow to simmer for a further 6-7 minutes
Drain away excess liquid, and sprinkle with feta.

Serve immediately, either by mixing everything together the old-fashioned way, or putting a bed of things on top of a bed of the other things - whatever suits you!