Healthy Mashed “Potatoes”

This delicious recipe for mashed “potatoes” is taken from the book Integrative Nutrition: Feed Your Hunger for Health & Happiness by Joshua Rosenthal (founder of IIN). This dish is healthier for you than standard mashed potatoes, but you don’t have to sacrifice taste. It’s made from cauliflower and millet instead of actual potatoes, and trust me – it’s awesome!

Millet is an ancient, heart-healthy whole grain that has been eaten as a main source of nutrition in Africa and India for thousands of years.  Millet is packed full of vitamins and minerals and is easy on digestion. It contains protein, fiber, B-complex vitamins including niacin, thiamin riboflavin, the essential amino acid methionine, lecithin, and vitamin E to name a few. It is also high in the minerals iron, magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium. Millet is gluten-free and is listed on Celiac.com‘s “safe, gluten-free foods list.” So, basically…millet rules!!

This recipe also has none of the butter or milk you’d normally find in mashed potatoes. I really encourage all of you mashed potato lovers (let’s be honest, who ISN’T a mashed potato lover?) to give this a try if you’re looking for a healthier option!

*Note: I made a change to the recipe as it is originally printed. I use green onions instead of parsley.

Ingredients:

1 cup millet
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 medium cauliflower, sliced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp umeboshi vinegar (a Japanese vinegar made from pickled plums)
salt & pepper to taste
handful of chopped green onions

Directions:

Rinse millet. Bring water to a boil. Once water is boiling, add millet, cauliflower, garlic and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 20 minutes, covered, until the water has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for another 10-15 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mash with a potato masher, a whisk, or if you’d like it extra smooth and creamy, put it into a food processor or blender.  I, of course, threw it into the Vita-Mix and it came out amazing.

Stir in your green onions!

Serve and eat!! These “potatoes” would be a perfect edition to any meal. They are pictured here with marinated baked tofu and lemon-avocado broccoli. Yum!!