St. Patrick's Day Food: Last-Minute Green Dishes

How often do you hope to do something special for a holiday, but the busy whirlwind that is life takes over, and next thing you know, the holiday has come, or passed, and you're none the wiser?

Today might already be the original green day -- St. Patrick's Day -- but that doesn't mean you can't perform a last-minute green-up if you haven't already. The clothes, of course, are easy. Throw on something green. Done; piece of cake! But what about the food?

You could go to a bar, but if there's going to be an overflowing madhouse at the pub on any day of the year, this would be the one. That leaves celebrating in the comfort of your own home, or at a friend's place. Luckily, it's a piece of cake to turn things green for the holiday.

Iceberg lettuce would provide some pale greens for holiday-appropriate munching, but spinach makes your meal all the more vibrant -- especially when it's part of a Galway Spinach Salad.

That spinach can also give the kids a one-two punch of Seuss and St. Patrick with green eggs and ham. However, if you want an ever easier way to make green eggs, just add a generous amount of dried herbs to the eggs. Stick to the more bland dried herbs (parsley) if you're worried about an overabundance of flavor.

For a quick meal at work or home, hunt down some Irish Basiron Pesto cheese (a type of Gouda) and make some toasted or grilled cheese sandwiches. Or, gourmet it up with a lather of fresh pesto.

If you'd like a little pasta with your Irish celebration (Irish, Italian, potato), St. Paddy's Day Pasta with basil and spinach should do the trick. And it can be made even greener with spinach pasta!

Of course, you could just go old school Irish with a little Corned Beef Hash. It's not green, but it's a classic that can be jazzed up with peas, collard greens, green peppers, green cauliflower, broccoli -- the green vegetable of your choice.

Or, if a side is all you need, try a St. Patrick's Day Classic Colcannon.

On the dessert front, you can take it easy with green Jello or pistachio ice cream, or, put in a little extra effort with a Grasshopper Dessert, Lime-Green Cake, or a St. Patrick's Day Ice Cream Sundae.

But wait -- that can't be the end! There must, of course, be the beverages:

Non-Alcoholic: Limeade - Green Grape Glacier - Lucky Limey Float - or steamed milk with a dash of mint syrup and green dye

Alcoholic: Green Martini - Leprechaun Martini - Bagpipers Melody - Green Apple Martini

And finally -- the iconic green beer. Drink up! But in moderation, please.

For more ideas, check out KitchenDaily's St. Patrick's Day food, including a classic St. Patrick's Day menu with corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and stout cake and Irish desserts.

Happy St. Patty's Day!