Spatula Diaries: Gaudy and green — Five easy treats for St. Patrick’s Day

Photo by Maggie Heyn Richardson.

It’s a perfect storm for fun this weekend as Baton Rougeans, starved for spring and warm weather, will come out in droves for the 30th annual Wearin’ of the Green St. Patrick’s Day parade. That means lots of green beer, backyard crawfish, spent beads, irreverent T-shirts and behavior that gets worse the closer it gets to the Perkins Road Overpass. Some of us claim Irish ethnicity; most of us don’t. No matter, this particular day is one for hitting the pause button on regular life, shutting down streets and relishing the spectacle that is south Louisiana.

And speaking of spectacle, gaudy green foods are required eating. Here are five of my St. Patrick’s Day favorites.

• Anything with Crème de Menthe. We’re obsessed with boutique alcohol these days, but this weekend, why not embrace a retro liqueur in a ridiculous hue. Use Crème de Menthe in classic cocktails like the Grasshopper or Stinger, incorporate it in mint brownies or pour it over vanilla ice cream. It looks like Scope, but it tastes like a celebratory dessert at a 1960s steakhouse.

• Edamame hummus. Tamer and less gaudy, easy edamame hummus is delicious served with pita chips or carrot spears. Make it the same way you prepare regular hummus, with tahini, lemon juice, salt and pepper and fresh garlic. You can buy edamame already shelled in the freezer section, but even simpler, Trader Joe’s has a 9 oz. box of ready-to-eat shelled edamame you can toss right into the food processor.

• Cream cheese and pepper jelly. Springing from the broad tableau of runny stuff piled atop blocks of cream cheese, this dish is perfect for the parade if you use garish green pepper jelly. It’s made from bell peppers, white vinegar and sugar, and plenty of local farmers make it. Look for it on the shelves of independent grocery stores.

• White-bean pesto salad. For something healthy and flavorful, toss pesto with drained canned cannellini beans, adding a bit of chopped celery and a little red onion for texture and crunch. Clean, light and fresh.

• Three-ingredient guacamole. The simpler the guacamole, the better. To ripe avocado, just add lime juice and salt to taste. Sure, you can add tomatoes, onions and garlic, but what enhances the flavor of mellow avocado best is salt and citrus. If you need avocadoes in large volume, one of the most affordable places to buy them in Baton Rouge is La Morenita, the Latin American supermarket on Florida Boulevard.

Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and the author of Hungry for Louisiana, an Omnivore’s Journey. Find her at www.hungryforlouisiana.com and follow her on Twitter at @mhrwriter.