By Marie Oser
Scripps Howard News Service
Picnics and barbecues are a summertime tradition and wouldn't be complete without a big bowl of potato salad. There are probably as many different potato-salad recipes as there are people who make them. Most potato salads are made with a mayonnaise-based dressing that can include sour cream and riced hardboiled eggs. This can add up to an unhealthy amount of cholesterol, fat and calories.
Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are not fattening. It is the preparation that adds so much unhealthy fat and cholesterol. Potatoes are not only great-tasting, inexpensive and nutritious, but they are 99.9 percent fat-free and entirely cholesterol-free. A medium potato contains about the same amount of calories as a large apple. Because they are high in water-absorbing fiber, which makes one feel more satisfied and less hungry, eating potatoes can actually be helpful in maintaining your weight.
"Creamy" Herb Potato Salad is easy to make and features unpeeled red potatoes nestled in a rich-tasting, herb dressing with green peas. Potatoes come in many different colors: red, blue, purple and yellow, each with its distinctive texture and recommended applications. This recipe calls for red potatoes, characterized by rosy red skin and white flesh that has a firm, smooth and moist texture, making them well-suited for salad.
This potato salad is creamy and delicious without the traditional heart-heavy ingredients. Replacing unhealthy ingredients with soyfoods like low-fat silken tofu, miso and enriched soymilk adds numerous health benefits and makes good sense.
The velvet-textured "cream" sauce comes together quickly and is fragrant with flavorful herbs and green peas. You can boil the potatoes in the cool of the evening, cover and store them in the refrigerator, then make the herbed "cream" sauce and assemble the dish the following day. Health-conscious cooks can feel good about serving "Creamy" Herb Potato Salad, a wholesome and satisfying dish.
Creamy Herb Potato Salad
Ingredients:
5 medium red potatoes, unpeeled (about 2-1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/4 cups chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1 cup enriched soymilk
one 12.3-ounce package lite silken tofu
3 tablespoons mellow white miso
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 large basil leaves, snipped
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas, cooked
Preparation:
Place whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook 40 minutes or until fork-tender. Cool and cut each unpeeled potato in half and then into 1/4-inch slices. Place potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper and celery. Saute until tender, 3 minutes. Add flour and stir, about 1 minute. Add the 1/4 cup vermouth and stir for 1 minute or until the mixture forms a paste. Reduce heat to medium-low and add soymilk, 1/4 cup at a time. Stir after each addition, until thickened. Place tofu in a food processor and blend. In a small bowl, blend miso and 2 tablespoons vermouth with a small wire whisk or a fork. Add to the tofu with lemon juice and yeast. Stir gently into the white sauce, and add basil, marjoram, tarragon, thyme and peas. Gently fold cream sauce into potatoes. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
Yield: 8 Servings
Enlightened "Creamy" Herb Potato Salad
Nutrition analysis per serving: 1-1/4 cups
Protein 12g, carbohydrate 39g, fiber 8g, fat 3g, sat. fat 0g, cholesterol 0mg, calcium 118mg, sodium 322 mg.
Calories 234 -- from protein, 20 percent; from carbohydrate, 67 percent; from fat, 13 percent.
Traditional Mayonnaise-based Potato Salad
Nutrition analysis per serving: 1-1/4 cups
Protein 7g, carbohydrate 30g, fiber 6g, fat 30g, sat. fat 7g, cholesterol 0mg, calcium 127mg, sodium 545 mg.
Calories 404 -- from protein, 7 percent; from carbohydrate, 29 percent; from fat, 64 percent.
Notes on Ingredients:
- Miso is a rich, smooth paste fermented from soybeans and a grain such as rice, and aged one to three years. Mellow white miso is pale beige, with a subtle, sweet fragrance and a rich, creamy texture.
- Enriched soymilk is fortified with vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium, and is widely available in health-food stores and supermarkets.
- Lite silken tofu is a Japanese-style tofu that is very low in fat -- just one-half gram per 3 ounces. This style of tofu has a smooth, creamy texture and custard-like consistency. Lite silken tofu is widely available in aseptic packages in supermarkets and health-food stores.
(Marie Oser is a best-selling author and on-camera chef -- www.vegtv.com. Her latest book is The Enlightened Kitchen, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
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