Miso Mushroom + Mashed Potato-Kale Bowl

Name: Miso Mushroom + Mashed Potato-Kale Bowl
Prep time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 large red-skinned potatoes (quartered); 1 c. kale leaves (stripped of stems and then chopped into small strips); 1/2 c. milk; 2 tbsp. butter or olive oil; 1/2 tsp. Salt; 1 lb. mushrooms; 5 cloves garlic (minced); 2 tbsp. Soy sauce; ¼ c. miso paste; 6 tbsp. Butter; ¼ c. water; Optional: 2 tbsp. Fish sauce; Optional: Chives for garnish

Hearty mushrooms sautéed in an umami miso-soy glaze, served atop a bowl of creamy mashed potatoes mixed with bits of kale for added health benefits.

In chilly fall and winter months, I crave one comfort food above all others: potatoes.

I’m Irish, so tubers — especially the mashed variety — were a staple and favorite at my childhood dinner table. They are filling and versatile, warm you up, and keep beautifully in the fridge. I could eat (and have eaten on many occasions) a big bowl of mashed potatoes for dinner.

The only downside? They’re not necessarily the most nutritious choice, even though white potatoes are a good source of potassium and vitamin C. There’s an easy solution — stir in some greens!

The base of this vegetarian recipe is colcannon, which is an Irish dish that combines mashed potatoes with greens, like cabbage. I used kale because it’s so nutritious and full of vitamins A, C and K.

The colcannon is topped with sautéed mushrooms rich in umami flavor, sautéed with garlic, butter, miso paste, soy sauce and an optional dash of fish sauce (If you’re new to fish sauce, it’s way better than it sounds — I promise).

These mushrooms are out-of-this-world good. I could eat a whole bowl of them by themselves. I used a mix of shiitake and white button mushrooms, but feel free to experiment with whatever varieties you like. Just know that the flavor combination of miso-butter and shiitake mushrooms is unparalleled, in my opinion!

This hearty and flavorful recipe can be easily pulled together on a weeknight. Plus, it can be easily turned into a vegan/dairy-free recipe. More details on that below.

As far as veggies go, mushrooms are about as close as you’ll get to the texture of meat. If you’re a carnivore looking to cut back on meat, this is a pretty great place to start.

Ingredients

Colcannon (Mashed Potatoes + Kale)

Red-skinned potatoes
Kale
Milk
Butter/Olive oil
Salt

Mushrooms

Mushrooms (your choice, but I like shiitake)
Garlic
Soy sauce
Miso paste
Butter

Optional

Fish sauce
Chives

Substitutions

If you’re looking to make this recipe vegan/dairy-free, you can easily substitute the butter for olive oil, and milk for a neutral-flavored non-dairy milk. Water even works in place of milk, but it will make for a less creamy mashed potato.

Use any potato you like. I prefer red-skinned potatoes because the skin tends to be thinner. I like to leave the skin in my mashed potatoes for added nutrition, but that’s totally up to you.

Kale can be substituted for another leafy green, like spinach, or cabbage.

Instructions

Boil the potatoes until tender.

In a pan, melt butter, stir in miso paste, then add garlic. Cook briefly, then add mushrooms and soy sauce. If you choose to add fish sauce, do so now. Let the mushrooms cook for a little while longer, then add water to deglaze the pan.

The miso won’t fully integrate into the butter, as you can see here, but that’s OK. Add the garlic when the miso is thoroughly distributed into the butter.

Drain the potatoes, reduce the heat, then add in butter and milk. Mash the potatoes, fold in your kale strips, then cover the pot and let it cook briefly.

Spoon mashed potatoes into a bowl and top with mushrooms. Garnish with chives, if you’d like, and enjoy this flavor-backed vegetarian comfort meal!