Kale Colcannon Cakes

Kale Colcannon Cakes with Crispy Bacon


Kale has become fashionable as a 'superfood' and it's nutritional value is astounding. It's packed with beta-carotene, folate and vitamin C, in fact 17 times more vitamin C than carrots and 4 times more than spinach.


It takes a bit longer to cook than cabbage and is better eaten soft than al dente.  I really like it in Colcannon with crispy bacon and sometimes top it with a poached egg.


Ingredients


750 g potatoes, peeled and cut into small even chunks
300 g curly kale, shredded
5 spring onions, roots removed, the remainder finely shredded
75 g butter
250 g smoked streaky bacon, grilled until just crisp
A little flour for dusting
1 tbsp olive oil


Method


Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft.  Set aside in a bowl.


Cook the kale in a large pan of boiling water until soft, drain and put back in the pan with 50 g butter and the spring onions, stir until the butter has melted.  Add the kale mixture to the bowl with the potatoes.


Mash or crush the contents of the bowl then break up the bacon and stir it into the potato mixture.  Using your hands form balls of the potato mixture into patties and coat them with flour.


Melt the remaining 25 g butter in a large frying pan add the olive oil and fry the patties, over a moderate heat for 4 minutes each side until they are golden brown and a little crisp at the edges.


Serve immediately


Can be served with poached eggs or as part of a mixed grill