BBQ Colcannon - or Irish Artichokes

I had been planning to use up some potatoes and some of the cabbage with good old-fashioned Irish Colcannon today, but it was so lovely outside I just had to barbecue. So I got a little creative, and invented - let's call it deconstructed colcannon.

I boiled the smallest potatoes until they were just fork-tender. I also sliced some parsnip - we got a huge one this week, so the slices were about the size of a small plate - and put those in the water for a few minutes. I pulled those out and brushed them with olive oil; drained the potatoes and tossed them in olive oil and thyme. If they're really small or you want to be fancy, you can thread them on skewers; I just threw them on the BBQ as is; same with the parsnip. I was hoping the parsnip would go lovely and roasty-golden, but maybe I didn't leave it on long enough; the potatoes, though, get a nice crispy outside and soft inside.

The cabbage I cut into quarters, without cutting of the end first (you have to do it this way or it falls apart). What do you call that part, anyways? In an artichoke it would be the choke - and actually the cabbage looked a lot like an artichoke when it was cut open. Kenneth joked that we should name it something fancy, like Roman artichoke - but I said Irish artichoke would be more appropriate! I mixed together a crushed garlic clove, about two tablespoons of mayonnaise and two tablespoons of olive oil, then enough water to make it a bit runny. I drizzled half of this aioli over the cabbage quarters and reserved half, then put the cabbage on the hot grill. Right before serving I drizzled the rest of the aioli over the cabbage.

A couple of salmon fillets and a few minutes later, and we had a great platter of barbecued dinner!

Enjoy the sun.

-Kathy