March is one of my favorite months because it’s my son’s birthday, spring is almost here, and I can cook green food all month long in honor of St. Patrick’s Day! Okay, I’ll be honest, I cook green food all the time.
My obsession started around this time last year when I was looking for fun, green meals other than the corned beef and food-colored green mashed potatoes my mother always made for St. Patrick’s Day.
My first foray into green food was Green Mac and Cheese. The recipe is involved, and the first time I made it, it took forever, but now I make it all the time, and it doesn’t take long. It’s also great to freeze!
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here are some of my favorite green meals to make for my family. My three-year-old gobbles them all up!
Lentil Chickpea Burgers with Avocado Yogurt Sauce. The main part of this one isn’t green, but the fun topping (or dipping sauce) is so fun. We do this without buns, and I’ll add whatever vegetable I have. I make a large batch and freeze them before cooking. Then, the night before I want to make them, I let them defrost in the refrigerator, and instead of frying them, I bake them at 350 for 15 minutes.
Spinach cake muffins. These were one of the first foods I made using spinach to color. I made these for my son’s half-birthday last year, and he loved them!
Great Green Pasta Sauce. Mine came out much greener than pictured in the recipe, but it’s still delicious, and my son always asks for ‘green getti’. The recipe made a large amount of sauce, and I could freeze the extra. I got three meals out of this.
Cheesy Green Hummus. We eat hummus by the spoonful in my house. It goes with cucumbers, carrots, pretzels, pita, or just on a spoon. I love that this one adds some cheese (because, really, what isn’t better with cheese?).
Green Monster Smoothie Pancakes. I haven’t made these yet, but they look fabulous. And if something is in pancake form in my house, it will be devoured.