Holidays can be treacherous times for anyone trying to shed weight…unless you’ve learned how to fill yourself up and fake yourself out with The Skinny versions of the foods you crave!
And if you’re craving mashed potatoes with your turkey dinner, or just want them as part of a simple supper, this is a recipe that delivers in taste and texture…but has only a fraction of the calories and none of the fat.
Mashed potatoes made with milk and butter can have as much as 200 calories a cup. But a cup of “mock mashed” made with nutrient rich cauliflower has less than 30!
I didn’t invent the brilliant substitution of cauliflower for spuds–that’s a trick I learned from The South Beach Diet years ago…
But by changing the cooking technique–microwaving the cauliflower rather than steaming it (which made it too wet!)–and using just a wee bit ofSmart Balance Light Butter Spread and fat-free half and half, the dish is now quicker, easier, requires much less clean-up AND has much better flavor and texture..which means I can serve it to the pickiest of eaters!
Cauliflower Mock Mashed Potatoes
1 medium to large head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)
1 Tablspoon Smart Balance Light Butter Spread
2-3 Tablespoons fat-free half and half
Chop the cauliflower into small pieces, place in a microwave safe bowl and add 1/2 t of salt. (Do NOT add water!)
Cover with a plate and microwave on high for about 10 minutes.
Let stand, covered, for 2 minutes more.
Add the Smart Balance Light and use your immersion blender to puree. Add in the fat-free half and half and blend until very smooth. Taste, adding more salt if needed, and serve.
Remember, if you want to lose weight, as you serve your plate, you want 80 percent of what you put on it to be vegetable and just 20 percent animal.
And this dish is a major secret weapon that will allow you to do that and still feel full and satisfied (and skinny!) at the end of your meal.
By the way, with mixed company at Thanksgiving (some already skinny, some heading that way), I always serve both real mashed potatoes and the mock mashed.
And, at the end of those meals these past few years, almost everyone prefers The Skinny version! And the only downside to that is that I have to toss a load of real potatoes down the drain and run out of left over mock mashed too soon!