A Lighter Calcannon

Calcannon is a very traditional Irish dish that's usually made up of mashed potatoes, cabbage, butter and sometimes bacon or ham. It's a great leftover dish, but also one that can stand out as a great side or main course with a side salad.

The the weather cooling off, I was in the mood for calcannon and decided to make a lighter version. First, I cooked up a small head of cabbage and 1/2 of an onion with some turkey bacon in a saute pan until the vegetables were tender. I then microwaved some cauliflower and one sweet potato, and pureed them in the food processor with a 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 1/4 cup of shredded 2% cheese and one wedge of Laughing Cow low-fat Garlic & Herb cheese. The addition of the sweet potato helped bind the mixture; sometimes with pure cauliflower mash, things can get a bit watery. I also added salt and pepper to taste.

I then mixed the mash mix with the sauteed onions/cabbage/turkey bacon, and threw in a few chopped scallions. At this point, you could eat it just as it is as calcannon is typically served in the same way as mashed potatoes.

But I'm a sucker for baked dishes so I pressed the mix into a dish and baked it in the oven for 30 minutes. The result was a hot, delicious, decadent-tasting calcannon that doesn't miss any of the extra starch or fat of the regular version. I was really amazed at how much flavor the turkey bacon added to this dish with less than half the fat of regular bacon (yes, I know it's not the same but in this dish it works beautifully). The entire casserole has 14 WW points...not bad, and this would yield at least 4 large servings, so you do the math!

My Calcannon

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 sweet potato

6 slices of turkey bacon, chopped

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 large white onion, chopped

1 small cabbage, chopped

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 wedge Laughing Cow low-fat cheese (any flavor you want is fine)

1/4 cup 2% shredded cheese of any kind

4 scallions, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

After washing cauliflower florets, wrap in a single layer in a damp paper towel. Put on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 5 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Set aside. Using a fork, pierce the skin of the sweet potato, and then wrap it in a damp paper towel. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large saute pan, cook the turkey bacon for about 3 minutes. Remove the bacon but leave any cooking liquid that the bacon has left behind in the pan. Add olive oil. Cook onion and cabbage in the saute pan over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until they are soft and translucent. Add bacon back into the cabbage and onion mixture and cook for 1 minute. Take off heat and set aside.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into large pieces. Puree the potato, cauliflower, buttermilk and cheeses in a food processor until the mixture is smooth like mashed potatoes. Add more buttermilk if the mixture is too thick. In a large bowl, mix the pureed mixture with the bacon/cabbage/onion mix and add the scallions and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put mixture into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.