By Jim Romanoff

For The Associated Press

It’s one thing to leave love to chance, but good health?

Luckily, digging into a plate of colcannon — a traditional Irish mixture of mashed potatoes, butter, cream, onions, and kale or cabbage — may serve as good insurance for both.

Once believed to hold the power to divine whether a woman was about to receive a marriage proposal, colcannon can also be a delicious and nutritious comfort food when done with an eye toward health.

Colcannon most often is made with cabbage and traditionally is cooked with plenty of butter, cream and even bacon drippings. It’s delicious, but high in saturated fats. Too many versions also favor a lopsided balance of potatoes to vegetables.

For a healthier take on colcannon, start by going with dark green kale rather than cabbage, and use it at a higher ratio than the potatoes.

Kale packs more nutrients per calorie than potatoes, among many other foods.

In fact, one cup of kale has just 36 calories and contains 192 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A. It also is an excellent source of fiber and vitamins C and K.

For this recipe, the greens are sauteed in a small amount of butter, rather than the more traditional boiling, which can leach nutrients from the kale.

This version of colcannon also calls for red potatoes with the skin on, which adds color as well as nutrients and fiber.

And they are mashed with low-fat milk rather than cream or bacon fat.

To make up for the flavor of the missing fat, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard is added to the kale mixture at the last minute. It adds a pleasant sharp taste and enhances the earthy flavors of the greens.