Green with meals to envy

Creative ideas for St. Patrick’s Day will take you beyond corned beef.

This St. Patrick’s Day, we’re sure there’ll be no shortage of corned beef available. You’ll find packages of vacuum-sealed brisket sitting in its brine at the grocery store.

Take that home, follow the directions and you can enjoy a fine dinner.

Or you can savor chef-made corned beef at Hampton + Hudson, where Craig Richards will be offering his take on the St. Patrick’s Day standard.

You can dine with him and enjoy his own cured corned beef and cabbage topped with poached eggs and a vibrant green spring onion sauce.

Chef Ryan Burke of Twain’s Brewpub & Billiards will also be serving corned beef, beerbraised corned beef to be precise, served with colcannon.

“I’m Irish and colcannon is the people’s food, a combination of potatoes and kale. It’s one of my favorite things, and I like making it with cabbage rather than kale.”

His Irish ancestors would have been celebrating the feast day with pork, not beef.

“When the Irish came to America, bacon was expensive but beef was cheap. Corned beef is definitely an Irish-American tradition.”

But this year, we thought maybe you’d like to bring a little more green to your table.

Smoothies are an easy way to incorporate green veggies and fruits into your diet. We liked the smoothie idea we got from Jordan Moore, creative director of beverages at Donetto and O-Ku. She blends up lime juice, agave, olive oil, cucumber, jalapeno and banana. Depending on the proportions, it can go savory or sweet.

We also liked Howard Hsu’s green smoothie, a healthy combination of ingredients that features Asian pears.

“My mother, Betty Hsu, is always bringing me Asian pears, so I had to start freezing them. That’s partly how the idea popped in my head to use them,” said Hsu, co-owner of Sweet Auburn Barbecue and Lazy Betty. You’ll find his recipe here, but if you don’t have a hoard of Asian pears in your freezer, he says any apple would make a good substitute.

Other chefs, including Burke, provided delicious green ideas for a sandwich, a grain bowl and a green ice cream sandwich that will be the hit of any St. Patrick’s Day meal.

CONTRIBUTED BY TORI ALLEN PR Ryan Burke’s Green Grain Bowl includes farro, pesto-coated chicken, avocado slices, Green Garlic Aioli and a garnish of kale microgreens.

CONTRIBUTED BY HENRI HOLLIS Stuart Rogers’ Roasted Poblano and Portobello Sandwich was created by the executive chef of Alpharetta’s Oak Steakhouse.

CONTRIBUTED BY TORI ALLEN PR Rachel Wright’s St. Patrick’s Day Ice Cream Sandwiches bring together Irish Cream Cookies and pistachio ice cream.