Crispy fried potatoes with pea-mint puree
Everyone likes roasted potatoes, right? For me, at least, roasted potatoes trigger instant salivation and are true comfort food. But of course they have to be prepared properly: nice and crispy and definitely not dripping with fat. Potatoes are well suited to a healthy, plantbased diet. They consist primarily of valuable, complex carbohydrates that keep you full for a long time. These “good” carbohydrates also ensure that the body produces the happiness hormone serotonin. So just like chocolate, bananas or pasta, potatoes make you happy in the truest sense of the word! Apart from that, potatoes have very few calories. Yes, because in addition to carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals, they consist mainly of water and are virtually fat free. Compared to rice or pasta, the potato is a real lightweight. Of course, how calorie-dense a potato dish in the end really is also depends on how it is prepared. But more about that in a moment. Back to my hymn of praise for the potato: in addition to all of these (and more) health benefits, the tuber, unassuming at first glance, is insanely versatile. You can make everything from potatoes: Potato salad, mashed potatoes, Potato Stew, baked potatoes, potato dumplings, French fries, potato soup, potato pancakes, hash browns, classic jacket potatoes… or just roast potatoes. And no matter how you prepare potatoes, they always taste good.
The advantages of potatoes
- Potatoes keep you full for a long time
- Potatoes provide fiber, vitamins and minerals
- Potatoes are low in calories
- Potatoes make you happy
- Potatoes taste good
- Potatoes are super versatile in preparation
- Potatoes are available regionally, year-round and inexpensive
Tips for the preparation of potatoes
Potatoes must be cooked, they are not digestible raw. From potatoes that have been stored for a long time, simply cut away the sprouts and any green spots before cooking. Large potatoes can be cut into small pieces, which shortens cooking time. Especially using young or new potatoes, which only have a very thin skin, peeling before cooking is not necessary, only thorough washing. The healthiest are jacket potatoes, because they are cooked very gently with the skin only in water, thus most of the nutrients remain in the potato, which is peeled only after cooking (if at all, see above). Dishes such as French fries or fried potatoes contain fat or oil, which is why these preparations are not quite as healthy. In any case, you should not prepare fried potatoes if you are doing a detox week or something like that. But as so often: the quantity makes the poison. Fried potatoes also require much less fat than you might think. And of course, it’s important to use a high-quality oil, preferably organic.
Crispy fried potatoes with mashed green peas and mint
For 2 portions
- 500 g small potatoes (mainly waxy)
- 1-2 clove(s) of garlic
- 3-4 tbsp canola oil
- salt, pepper
- 400 g peas (fresh or frozen)
- 4 tbsp vegetable broth
- 1-2 sprigs of mint
- 2 tbsp light miso
Wash the potatoes very clean that you can eat the skins later. Cut into thin slices. Crush the garlic clove(s) with their peel. This can be done quite well with the wide blade side of a large slicing knife.
Put the canola oil in a pan that does not stick. Fry the potatoes and garlic clove over medium heat for 15 minutes. To get them nice and crispy, put a lid on them so that it doesn’t close all the way. That way the potatoes will cook evenly in their own steam, but still fry at the same time. As soon as the potatoes are almost done, add salt and pepper and roast for another 5 minutes without a lid.
For the mashed green peas, steam the peas in the vegetable broth for about 7 minutes. Pluck the leaves from the mint sprigs, setting some aside for decoration. Puree the rest together with the peas using a blender, adding the miso at the end. Decorate the puree with mint and serve with the roasted potatoes.
