Day 28: Mashed Potatoes & Carrots ♥

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Ooooo, if this isn’t comfort food, what is? Potatoes and carrots are verboten for Atkins followers but their extraordinary loss is our magnificent gain.

Tonight I cooked and mashed a pound of Yukon golds and a pound of carrots with nothing more than a tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper. The color is extraordinary, the taste … well, let’s just say, oooooooooooooo.

Bypass those bags of prepeeled carrots for they have no flavor when cooked. And come on, it takes only eight minutes – EIGHT MINUTES – of prep work to dice the potatoes, peel and dice the carrots! Your family will thank you. Heavens, you’ll thank you!

[October 26, 2005: Mashed potatoes & carrots swept my family. I told my 80-year old aunt about them one evening last spring. She called an hour later to report, "I ate the whole pot." And here's a tip from my cousin Lynda who makes them all the time now. 'I've taken to using a smaller amount of water when I boil the veggies, and use all of it for the mashing - just add the salt, no butter. Delicious and no fat!' Atkins folks, if you're ever tempted to stray, here's a worthy temptation.]

MASHED POTATOES & CARROTS
Active time: 8 minutes prep, 5 minutes to drain and mash
Time to table: 45 minutes
Makes 6 half-cup servings

Water to cover (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, skins on
1 pound carrots, scrubbed
2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon butter
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Bring water to boil in a large kettle or Dutch oven (see TIPS) over MEDIUM HIGH. While water boils, dice the potatoes in about one-inch pieces. Peel the carrots with a carrot peeler and cut cross-wise in half-inch lengths. (If the carrots are quite thick, cut them in half or in quarters lengthwise first.) Add table salt, potatoes and carrots to water and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to MEDIUM and let simmer until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain potatoes in colander, saving about a cup of the hot water. Return potatoes and carrots to hot pan. Add butter and mash with a hand mixer or potato smasher, adding reserved water as needed. (It’s possible none will be needed.) Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 119 Cal (16% from Fat, 7% from Protein, 77% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 2 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 24 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; 30 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 463 mg Sodium; 5 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 2 points

ALANNA’s TIPS

“Water to cover” requires estimating approximately how much water is needed to barely cover the vegetables without leaving any bits sticking out of the water during the entire cooking process. Less water will boil faster than more water. And supposedly, less water means retaining more of the nutrients though I don’t remember seeing this since about 9^th grade Home Ec and am not a dietician so don’t hold me to it! Anyway, just do your best when estimating.