Colcannonish

In honour of St Patrick's Day, and because my bro-in-law is a non-Catholic Irishman, this is what the kids ate for dinner tonight. Three different colours of veg, a texture that most toddlers are quite happy with, and it's yummy enough for the adults too.

Ingredients

5 medium potatoes, washed and peeled and diced

1/2 carrot, grated

150g baby spinach, roughly chopped

1/2 brown onion, finely diced

1/4 cup skim milk powder

3/4 cup hot water

1 dessertspoon butter or margerine

salt to taste

Method

1. Boil the spuds til they're soft. While they're boiling, fry the onion in vege oil over medium heat til it's starting to brown. Then add the spinach and carrot, and cook for a couple of minutes.

2. Mix the skim milk powder with hot water (preferably straight out of the kettle). It will dissolve better in hot water than cold. Mash the potatoes with the margerine, adding the milk gradually (you may not need the whole cup). The mashed potatoes come out smoother and stay hotter when done with hot milk.

3. Stir in the vegies and salt.

A nice side dish with sausages or baked beans. It's not quite colcannon, but it's colcannonish. And spinach tastes nicer to most kids than cabbage anyway.