U.S. Potatoes Healthy Christmas Recipes

Counting 9 more days to Christmas, I'm sure everyone are as excited as me and my 5 Little Angels. Even though it is a challenging year with the Covid-19 pandemic, let's stay at home to stay safe and enjoy a healthy and yet nutritious meals with our family and friends. Since Christmas is all about giving and sharing, I will share out some of the recipes by Indra cooking and of course my dish too with U.S. Potatoes as a treat to your loved ones on this festive season.

As we know that U.S. Potatoes are not only nutritious and healthy, but also versatile. We can concoct a wide repertoire of recipes for the holidays ranging from soup, appetisers, hot dishes to even desserts!  

According to dietitian Indra Balaratnam, Christmas time could be a stressful and over- eating experience.  “Yes, meals should look appealing but never ignore the healthy attributes aspects of your festive dishes. Dishes can be both delicious and nutritious. A good way to add beneficial nutrients to your holiday meal is to include U.S. potatoes. 

U.S. Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C (30% of the DV), which plays a key role in supporting the body’s immune system. It’s always good to have natural Vitamin C especially for our kids even during the festive season and all year long.  

U.S. Potato also gives us 15% of our daily potassium serving, and that’s more than what a medium banana provides.  Potassium is a mineral that is an electrolyte for muscles to function well. It gets lost when we sweat, so it needs to be replenished to keep our performance optimal.

As for a medium U.S. Potato with the skin on also provides 2 grams of fiber. Fiber has many benefits, one of which helps you to feel comfortably full for longer. “This can help you to avoid over-eating and unnecessary weight gain during the festive holidays when one tends to over-eat or if our job is keeping our sedentary. 

One medium U.S. Potato gives us 110 calories of easy-to-digest calories, making it a good choice food to provide us that extra to fuel the demands of our active routines during Christmas. If you're worry about the fat, you can have U.S. Potato coz' it has zero fat and it won’t weigh you down and great of course for a “less fat” Christmas feasting!

If we are planning to have a more active 2021, be sure to we will be pleased to know that U.S. potatoes provide the complex carbohydrates, potassium, fiber and vitamin C we need to perform at our best.

Indra shares two healthy and nutritious recipes for the Christmas holidays and welcomes all to try for this coming festive celebrations. You can get the recipes here...

U.S. RUSSET POTATOES MUSHROOM CHEESE CASSEROLE 

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 medium size Russet U.S. Potatoes (approximately 450 grams) -- thinly sliced

200 grams white button mushrooms

100 grams yellow onion -- thinly sliced

1 tablespoon (15 grams) butter 

2 cloves garlic – finely minced 

1 tablespoon wheat flour 

1 cup (250 ml) cups nonfat (skim) milk 

120g low-fat cheese (6 slices low fat cheese slices) 

½ teaspoon salt 

½ teaspoon black pepper 

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

English parsley -- chopped (to garnish)

Method:

• Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

• Line the thinly sliced U.S. potatoes into a lightly buttered baking dish

• Melt butter in a small pot over low-medium heat;

• Add in onion and mushroom cook stirring occasionally until tender (about 5 minutes). 

• Stir in flour, then slowly add in the skim milk and stir till well combined. Bring to a slight simmer.

• Stir in 120 grams low fat cheese, salt, black pepper & cayenne pepper 

• Pour mixture into prepared baking dish then spread out to coat the thinly sliced potatoes.

•  Bake in the oven uncovered for 45 minutes. 

• After 45 minutes cooking time, cover with foil and continue to bake another 10 minutes more. 

• Garnish with finely chopped English parsley

Nutrition Analysis (per serving for 1 pax)

Calories:  160

Protein: 8g

Total fat: 5g

Saturated fat: 3g

Carbohydrates: 22g

Fibre: 2g

Cholesterol: 17mg

Sodium: 372mg

Vitamin A: 404 IU

Vitamin C: 7mg

Calcium: 177 mg

Potassium: 591mg

Iron: 1mg

Vitamin B6: 0mg 

HONEY MUSTARD GLAZED HASSELBACK U.S. POTATOES

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 kg U.S. Potatoes (mix of U.S. Russets, U.S. Red Potatoes or U.S. Blue-Purple Potatoes)

2 teaspoons olive oil

To make the Honey Mustard Glaze:

2 Tablespoon melted unsalted butter

4 teaspoons honey

4 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons mustard

Pinch of salt & crushed black pepper 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius

• Wash and pat dry the U.S. Potatoes

• Slice the U.S. Potatoes thinly Hasselback-style & arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

• Lightly brush the U.S. Potatoes with a little olive oil and bake for 30 minutes

• Mix all the ingredients for the honey mustard glaze into a small bowl.

• After 30 minutes, remove the potatoes from the oven and brush with half the honey mustard glaze over the U.S. Potatoes and return to bake 10 more minutes.

• After 10 minutes, brush with some more of the lemon honey glaze & bake for another 10 minutes till cooked.  

• Remove from oven and garnish with a dash of salt, black pepper, finely chopped 

   

Nutrition Analysis (per serving for 1 pax)

Calories:  195

Protein: 4g

Total fat: 6g

Saturated fat: 3g

Carbohydrates: 34g

Fibre: 2g

Cholesterol: 10mg

Sodium: 58mg

Vitamin A:  122IU

Vitamin C: 11mg

Calcium: 24 mg

Potassium: 705mg

Iron: 1mg

Vitamin B6: 1mg 

Amongst the 2 recipes that I shared it here, my favourite is U.S. Russet Potatoes Mushroom Cheese Casserole. I'm going to cook these simple and yet nutritious dish for my Little Angels on this Christmas day. I tried out cooking U.S. Russet Potatoes with my curry chicken recently and sharing out my dish here but as for the recipes, I will share out in my future post. The U.S. Russet Potatoes thicken my curry gravy. It has earthy flavor which enhances my dish. Yummy Yummy Yummy!!!

What is your favourite U.S. Potato dish for Christmas? Do share your recipes with U.S. Russet Potatoes too!!!

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#goodnutrition #healthychristmas #healthyrecipes