Almost any food can be colored green for a St. Patrick's Day Party.
St. Patrick's Day, March 17, honors St. Patrick, a Christian missionary to Ireland. St. Patrick used shamrock leaves to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish; over the centuries, the green shamrock became so thoroughly integrated into Irish culture that both it and St. Patrick's Day have come to symbolize Ireland itself. St. Patrick's Day is an opportunity for the Irish, and honorary Irish, to wear -- and eat -- green. If you want to throw a St. Patrick's Day party, many green foods help to uphold this fun tradition.
Snacks and Dip
If you want to set out some healthy snacks for your St. Patrick's Day party, you can do so without having to go crazy with the green food coloring. Try serving a bowl of pistachio nuts or slicing whole green peppers horizontally; the resulting pieces will have a trefoil or clover outline. You can also serve green veggies, such as broccoli florets, snow peas or celery stalks, or dip that's naturally green in color, such as avocado or spinach dip.
Small Sweets
If you want to serve some small sweets at your party, there are lots of ways to go green. You can simply make cupcakes and draw shamrock leaves on top of them with green icing, or outline a shamrock in icing and fill it with green candy sprinkles. You can buy a bag of green M&M's, green licorice or small gumdrops and arrange the pieces into a shamrock pattern. Alternatively, you can make rectangular sugar cookies and paint them with icing to resemble the green, white and orange of the Irish flag. Or serve green Watergate salad, lime or pistachio pudding, or lime gelatin cups topped with green-tinted whipped cream.
Cakes and Pies
There are no end of ideas for a St. Patrick's Day cake. You can make a simple sheet cake and decorate it with icing in the form of green shamrocks, the Irish flag, or green-clad leprechauns. You can purchase a cake form in the shape of a shamrock or a leprechaun's hat, and top them with green frosting. If you'd rather have a green pie, you can make a key lime pie, a green apple pie, or a Grasshopper mint pie topped with Irish-themed decorations.
Side Dishes
If you're having a dinner with a main entree, provide green side dishes to complement it and uphold the St. Patrick's Day theme. For instance, consider boiled cabbage, English peas, asparagus or a green bean casserole. You could go with a side salad filled with romaine lettuce, green peppers, green onions and cucumbers. You might serve fried green zucchini strips, Brussels sprouts, collard or mustard greens, or buttered lima beans.
Tags: with green, them with, green peppers, Irish flag, Patrick party, serve green, shamrock leaves
