Potato salad with home-made mayonnaise

Cooked and cooled potatoes are an excellent source of resistant starch, a prebiotic that helps feed the probiotics (good bacteria) in our gut. Potato salad is one easy and yummy way to incorporate cooked and cooled potatoes into your diet. It readily lends itself for school or work lunches, eaten straight from the fridge as leftovers or prepared ahead of time for every day dinners, dinner parties or picnic lunches.

Ingredients:

• 1 potato, cut into 1cm cubes (approx 150g)

• ½ carrot, cut lengthways then into rounds

• ¼ cup peas (you can buy frozen organic peas in most organic shops)

• 1-2 rashes of pastured bacon or rounds of diced pastured ham (optional)

• tallow (or natural fat of choice) for frying bacon

• 1-2 tablespoons home made mayonnaise (see recipe below)

• unrefined salt

• cracked pepper

Directions:

Steam potato, carrots and peas until soft. Add to a bowl.

Meanwhile, dice bacon and stir fry in a small saucepan in tallow (or fat of choice) until cooked. Add to the bowl. If using ham instead of bacon add it to the bowl.

Mix ingredients in bowl to combine.

Refrigerate for 24 hours to allow resistant starch properties of the cooked and cooled potatoes to form. When ready to consume, stir through mayonnaise and season with any additional salt and pepper.

Serves 1-2 depending if consuming as a side or a main.

Note: I tend not to peel the skin on potatoes unless they are particularly grubby / full of soil. This typically depends on the variety of the potato. Sometimes a little scrub with a brush and water is enough to remove excess dirt.

Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks

• 1 tsp Dijon style mustard

• 1.5 tbsps lemon juice

• 1 tbsp whey (optional)

• 1/8 tsp unrefined salt

• cracked pepper

• ¾ cup olive oil

Directions:

Blend together all ingredients, other than the olive oil, with a hand held blender. With the blender still running, very slowly pour in the olive oil a little at a time. The result should be a thick creamy paste.

Makes 1 cup. Keep refrigerated.

Note: Without the whey, mayonnaise will keep for about 2 weeks. The addition of whey will help your mayonnaise last longer, adds enzymes and increases nutrient content. With the whey, mayonnaise keeps for several weeks in the fridge and will become firmer with time.

Root vegetable gratin & mash!

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Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be such comfort foods if prepared well. My kids and I love them: (a) oven-roasted cooked in butter; (b) oven- roasted cooked in broth; (c) made into wedges/ chips cooked in coconut oil; (d) made into a creamy gratin; (e) mashed with cream and butter.

Having these 5 easy go-to dishes adds variety and keeps the kids and taste-buds happy!

If you're new to a paleo or ancestral diet and fear that root vegetables are going to tip you over into instant fat gain territory because of their high starch content, you might want to check out one of my earlier blog posts here about the dangers of going too low carb (mistake numero uno). I eat root vegetables (along with above ground vegetables) every day. And with a bit of portion control (this is key for me) I am far from overweight. As Kate Callaghan, my dear friend, colleague and holistic dietician, so succinctly stated in an email to me the other day, we need carbohydrates to:

1. Convert our inactive thyroid hormone (T4) to our active hormone (T3). Without it, we could experience thyroid problems
2. Feed the beneficial bacteria in our gut
3. Avoid too much strain on the adrenals (if you go too low carb you will risk running into cortisol issues)
4. Fuel high intensity exercise

Kate also reminded me that while very low-carb might work for some people (e.g. people with diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, SIBO and those requiring a ketogenic diet), for most healthy people, it is not helpful and can in fact be harmful. (As a side note- I encourage you to  subscribe to Kate's blog and if you live in NZ you should go see her!)

My potato and sweet potato recipes are loaded with healthy saturated fats which not only taste delicious but serve to:

(A) Slow down the release of sugars found in starchy veggies,
(B) Aid in assimilating the fat soluble vitamins and minerals found in vegetables and
(C) signal to the body that it's full and prevent you from over-eating (that's the leptin hormone doing its job when you eat satiating foods). So now that we are all (hopefully) not fearful of potatoes or sweet potatoes, let's cook!

Starting with the gratin.....don't let the name and its impressive presentation fool you. It only take a few minutes to assemble then less than an hour in the oven and it's done. It's a great one to pull out for dinner parties too as its looks so pretty with all of its layers. I love the sweetness and creaminess of the root veggies combined with the texture and flavour of the crunchy cooked garlic:

Potato and Sweet Potato Gratin:

Ingredients:

• 500g in total of potatoes and sweet potatoes (you can use equal amounts of both or I typically use ¾ sweet potatoes and ¼ potatoes)

• 200g runny cream

• 4 cloves (20g) garlic, diced

• Unrefined salt

• Pepper

• Dried thyme

• Butter or olive oil for greasing pie dish

Directions:

Liberally grease round pie dish with butter.

Peel the root vegetables and slice them thinly. Arrange them in layers in the pie dish, alternating between the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the cream over the vegetables. Scatter the garlic on top. Add a scattering of thyme leaves.

Bake uncovered for 50 minutes at 150 degrees or until root vegetables are soft (test by inserting a skewer or fork into them).  If the vegetables are browning too much, cover in foil.

Serves 4 as a side.

Mashed potato or mashed sweet potato needs no introduction. Here's how I make it this staple side dish:

Mash

Ingredients:

• 3 potatoes or 1 small sweet potato, chopped (approx 440g)

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons cream fraiche or cream

• 1/8 teaspoon unrefined salt

• Cracked pepper

• Gruyere or reggiano cheese, grated, to serve (optional)

Directions:

Steam potato or sweet potato until very soft. Place in jug or canister together with the butter, cream, salt and pepper and blend with hand held blender until well mixed. Season with extra salt or pepper to taste.  If mixture is too thick add more butter or cream or a dash of whole milk. I like mine quite thick. Transfer to serving bowl and top with a handful of grated cheese if desired.

Serves 5-6 as a side