Believe it or not, potatoes have lots
of good nutrients which are good for the body. After all, they
are vegetables. However, don't get the idea that we can now run
out and get deep fried French fries at the local fast food joint.
Quite the contrary.
Interestingly, the scientific classification for potatoes is
in the Solanum Tubersosum. Solanum is from a Latin word meaning
"soothing". In our household, mashed potatoes are always
on hand when someone is sick or has a sensitive stomach.
It is recommended to eat the skin when possible, since a lot
of the nutrients are found here. Speaking of nutrients let's give
a nice list of what these are:
Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, copper, potassium, manganese, zinc, tryptophan
plus fiber.
All these minerals and vitamins play an active role in our health.
From skin health to calming upset stomachs to giving your body
lots of phytonutrients (these help increase your antioxidant levels)
potatoes are a great part of your diet. Be careful though, they
can contribute to weight gain - which is great for those who need
to gain weight. If you struggle with your weight, just eat them
in moderation - but don't eliminate them from your diet!
But with all this good news, what can we use potatoes for besides
mashed or baked potatoes? Fortunately we have some easy
Italian recipes to give us a few ideas. I'll list two simple
ones below.
First, we have a recipe for Italian
Potato Salad. This is an easy recipe which is perfect for
picnics or cookouts, not only because it doesn't contain the time
sensitive mayonnaise which can easily go rancid, but mainly because
it tastes amazing! I used this recipe on Mother's Day, and it
was a huge hit! The olive oil and white wine vinegar combination
with the fresh parsley was the perfect match.
Next, we have Italian
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary. This is a wonderful recipe
which you can keep the skins on. Use red or yellow skin potatoes
- you know, the ones for roasting. They tend to hold their shape
and form better without turning into mush.
For this recipe I actually did a test. I did one batch where
I parboiled the potatoes with some vinegar added to the water
(supposed to help keep the potatoes firm), and the second batch
was not boiled at all, but put right into the oven raw. Both batches
were seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary in the
same manner.
The results were as followed:
1. Firmness: The batch which was par boiled
had a slight vinegar taste, but the vinegar was to help keep the
potatoes firm, not really add to the flavor. I didn't find any
real noticeable difference in firmness.
2. Length: Both roasted the same length of
time. The non-boiled potatoes could have gone an extra 10 minutes.
This in my mind only told me I won't par boil them in the future.
It is better for me to just leave it in the oven an extra 10 minutes
rather than going through the hassle of par boiling.
3. Taste: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being
no difference in taste and 10 being huge difference, I'd rate
it at 2 - solely due to the slight vinegar which wasn't even always
noticeable. To be honest and unbiased and not influenced by preconceived
ideas, I had my husband create a taste test for me. With my eyes
closed, he gave me a bite from each batch. My verdict? When it
came time to say which one came from which batch - I got it wrong.
So what does this tell us? It says save time and don't worry
about parboiling the potatoes.
One thing regardless of what you choose to do with your potatoes,
don't tell your kids, nieces or nephews that it is actually a
vegetable!
To see more recipes check out my list of Italian recipes on
my recipe box page by clicking
here.
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