It's Time To Make The Ultimate One-Pot Meal

Normally, I’m not a slave to the holidays, meaning that I tend to let my stomach tell me what I should be cooking/eating, not the calendar. That being said, Saint Patrick’s Day is one week from today, and it happens to be the most logical time of year to make one of the ultimate (and most underrated) one-pot meals: Corned beef with cabbage and potatoes.

I would guess that for the vast majority of us, corned beef and cabbage is at most a once-a-year dish. But it’s so worth it, especially when you realize (or remember) that it’s actually very easy. First off, you’re not making your own corned beef (unless you want to); just find a meat source that you like and trust, and buy it there. Once you have that in hand, this whole dish is just an exercise in boiling, which is not among the trickier or more technically demanding cooking methods.

It takes about two hours for the meat to get tender. If you have time to cook the whole dish from start to finish in one session, great. If not, you can do the corned beef on Sunday (Saint Patrick’s Day is on a Tuesday) and then refrigerate the meat and broth. Then on Tuesday night, all you need to do is warm the corned beef and boil the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in the broth, which amounts to a pretty quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Even if you’re not cooking for a crowd, leftovers are a plus. Corned beef and cabbage on rye bread with mustard is kind of hard to beat.