Sunday, May 02, 2010

More Than Mashed Potatoes

For many people, it's not a "meal" without potatoes.  I've been on a modified low carbohydrate diet for over a year and a half, but I still cook starches for the family.  Here are a couple of side-dishes, very easy to prepare and a little "different" from your standard fare.

At first glance, if you were to guess what's here, you'd say mashed potatoes.  OK, yes, most of it is simply made mashed potatoes.  The easiest way is to boil some already peeled potatoes, cut into small pieces in a minimum of water with some onion pieces.  Then when they're soft, add some oil, salt, pepper to taste and mash.


More than Mashed Potatoes


But this isn't just that.  Along with the potatoes I boiled pieces of celery root.  The root of very strong celery leaves (good for soups, stews etc) looks like potatoes, but celeriac has more flavor, taste etc, so you need much less salt.  Here's some more information:


Celeriac, raw Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 176 kJ (42 kcal)
Carbohydrates 9.2 g
Sugars 1.6 g
Dietary fiber 1.8 g



Compare this to an ordinary white potato:
Energy 321 kJ (77 kcal)
Carbohydrates 19 g
Starch 15 g
Dietary fiber 2.2 g



Adding some celery root to your mashed potatoes can significantly lower carbohydrates and reduce salt.  That's good for many of us.
This little "pie" or kugel can be called:
Sweet Rice & Apple Kugel

It's extremely easy to prepare and was very popular with my family and guests.


More than Mashed Potatoes

The main ingredient is rice, cooked rice, aka left-over rice.  Personally, I would never bother cooking rice just to use for a kugel like this, unless I was making a few to freeze.  Rice keeps well in the refrigerator, so when I cook some, I cook extra.  If there's a cup or more left by the end of the week, it's recycled into something like this.  You can use either white or any of the various types.  Remember that Basmati rice is lowest in carbohydrates than other strains of rice.

This is a "no sugar" recipe, but it does have apple juice concentrate.  You can use a dietetic juice concentrate, but I used a regular one.  I added:
apple juice concentrate
a couple of eggs
diced apples
cinnamon and would have added ginger and nutmeg if I had some

Mix and bake medium heat until inside is dry like a cake.  That's it.
 
 

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