Colcannon (In honor of St. Patrick's Day)

When I was eight years old, I became Irish when my dad and step-mom married.  Her family is part Irish and celebrates like they are ALL Irish.  Okay, okay, I know that didn't really make me Irish, but if there is one thing I've learned about being Irish, it's that a little bit can go a L-O-N-G way.
As a kid, I had a love/hate relationship with St. Patrick's Day.  On the one hand, I loved any excuse to celebrate and wear something weird to school.  On the other, I hated corned beef and cabbage.  While my views on cabbage have changed (thanks to all my German Minnesotan friends), my views on corned beef have not.

Here is a variation of an Irish dish we can all love:

Colcannon with Breaded Tofu
by Me

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh kale, washed and torn up with tough stems removed
2 large russet potatoes, cleaned, mostly peeled, and cubed
10 oz shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic (or less if you aren't brave), chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond)
1 tbsp vegan cream cheese
1 tbsp vegan butter spread
1/2 of 7 oz pkg of firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp bread crumbs
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. Steam potato cubes until they are fully cooked.  I use a steam basket inside a covered pot.  Test them by trying to mash with a fork- if it works, they are done.  Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle agave syrup over tofu in a bowl and toss to coat.
3. Sprinkle flour, salt, pepper, and breadcrumbs over the tofu and toss to coat.

4. In a large pan over medium heat, saute mushrooms in olive oil.  After a couple of minutes, add tofu.  If necessary, remove mushrooms from pan and set aside or simply push them to one side of the pan.  Flip tofu until it is golden brown on all sides.
5. Meanwhile, steam kale about 5 minutes or until it is slightly wilted and bright green. Then, add kale to tofu and mushrooms, add garlic and toss to combine.  Saute for a few minutes until tofu and mushrooms are cooked and everything is hot. 
6. Put the potatoes into a pot.  Mash them with a wooden spoon, fork, or potato masher.  Add milk, vegan cream cheese and butter, and mash and mix until combined.
6. Serve tofu and vegetable mixture over the mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!

 Notes:
-You can make this whole recipe with 2 dishes if you are savvy.  I steamed the potatoes, changed the water, steamed the kale, removed the water, added the potatoes back in for mashing, and used a frying pan for everything else!
-Use your preferred type of kale or cabbage, and change up the mushrooms and potatoes for what's available.  I am going to try it with purple potatoes once farmer's market starts up again.
-I roughly peeled my potatoes so that they would still have some skin.  Russets have gritty, thick skin that isn't super edible (if you use other potatoes you can always leave all the skin on) but the skin contains so many nutrients I had to leave some on.

Dirty mashed potatoes

Here is everybody in the pan before tossing.