{Guest Post Friday} Skinny Mashed Potatoes

TGIF friends!  You know it's that time again and, as usual, I have a super fab blog to share with you all.  Dara is the 20-something girl behind Generation Y Foodie and I absolutely love her because not only does her food rock, but she's a lawyer {and as most of you know, I work with them on a daily basis} and she shares the same mind set as me when it comes to cooking!

Based out of Boston, her love for blogging came about because she wanted to put to rest the assumption that our generation {yes us 20 year olds} don't even know how to boil water and resort to takeout all the time.  Yes this might be true for you college kids {trust me!  I was guilty at one time}, but the majority of us love cooking!

Don't you just love her approach??

And on top of it all, she managed to make skinny mashed potatoes for us!!  Aren't you glad I asked her to guest post?

You're welcome.

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Thanksgiving is approaching, and you know what that means?  Mashed potatoes!  Despite being super delicious, traditional mashed potatoes are generally not super good for you, owing to the cream, butter, salt, sour cream, cheese and other high calorie ingredients.  However, there are many ways to make mashed potatoes that are healthier and not loaded with calories, fat and salt.

In addition to having not butter or cream, this version uses both potatoes and...turnips!  You may be thinking that this seems a bit crazy, but turnips are an incredible superfood that you can easily integrate into most recipes.  Turnips generally resemble potatoes in texture and appearance, but there are a couple of key differences.  First, turnips have 1/3 the calories of potatoes and far fewer carbs.  Second, turnips pack in more vitamin C, folic acid and fiber than potatoes.  Also, turnips are available year round and are super cheap.  You can use them to create all sorts of healthy meals.  I have roasted them, baked them as 'fries" and even braised them.

This recipe is my first time mashing them and I am thrilled with how it came out.  This dish gets its flavor from the turnips themselves, which have a slightly bitter, spicy taste, garlic, some yellow onion, a bit of Parmesan and fresh rosemary.  Salt and pepper finishes things off and you have a healthy, simple dish that will compliment pretty much any meal.  The creamy texture is derived from the potatoes and turnips themselves, as well as some skim milk.  As a general rule, I prefer to keep the skins on my root veggies, since it adds a lot of vitamins and fiber, but you can peel them if you prefer.

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Servings: 4

Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe 

Calories: 182

Fat: 4 g

Carbs: 30 g 

Protein: 8 g

Old Points: 3.2 pts

Points+: 5 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

1 lb. red potatoes, washed and cut into 1-2" chunks

1 lb. purple topped turnips, washed and cut into 1-2" chunks

4 cloves of fresh garlic

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

3 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped and divided

3/4 cup of skim milk

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, add potatoes and turnips and add just enough cold water to cover them.  Bring to a boil for 12-15 minutes, until you can easily insert a fork into the chunks.  You want them to be soft, but not falling apart.  Drain potatoes and set aside.

In a food processor, puree garlic and onion until smooth.  Saute garlic/onion mixture in olive oil on medium-low heat 4 to 5 minutes.  Add potatoes, turnips, skim milk and 2 Tbsp of rosemary.

Mash the potato mixture with a masher or a whisk, breaking up large chunks.  Mash to your desired level of smoothness.  I like mine chunky, more smashed than mashed.  Continue to cook potatoes, on medium-low for another 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with rosemary.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

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Thanks again for guest posting Dara!!  For more delicious recipes, make sure to go check out her blog here!

Hope everyone has a super fun {and safe} HALLOWEEN weekend!  Can't wait to show y'all what I'm dressing up as.  I'll give you a hint...frilly little dress, crown and a pacifier ;)  Any guesses?

For now, I shall leave you with some costumes from years past.

Yes.

Oliver was a bumble bee :)