In the Paleo community, the humble spud is a controversial food. Those of you starting their first Whole 30 have been instructed to avoid them – and perhaps if you are a newbie to nutrition, exercise and the like – you should. But I think that – just like with any new diet that catches on (not to liken paleo to a fad, I love the way I eat!) there’s a lot of over simplification. Carbs are not your enemy people! Not all the time anyways… Potatoes are wonderful foods. On their own which means no sour cream, no bacon, no canola oil to deep fry them in – they’re actually quite healthy for you – in moderation. I’m not sure why but fitness magazines (and by fitness magazines I mean Shape and Self and other crap that encourages women to lift frilly pink dumbbells) have decided that sweet potatoes are the potato’s healthier cousin. I disagree – I mean the two are like apples and oranges. Gram for gram, they have the same amount of carbs and when you look at the break down of those carbs, the sweet potato is much higher in sugars. That’s neither here nor there – If you live an active lifestyle and lift weights, potatoes are a great carb to have post work out! Just try and avoid dousing them with fat – especially if it’s after a training session. This can be difficult – have you ever had a boiled potato plain? They’re bland. Very, very, bland. Thus, I give you:
The potato latke!
I wish I took better pictures of these suckers but honestly, they smelled SO INVITING and after I had a nibble of one – well it was a battle to get the few pictures I did get. What’s great about these is that they’re very low in fat – now remember fats are not bad or unhealthy but post work out, you want to deliver good clean carbs with very little fat.
I considered making a giant latke instead of little ones… which you can totally feel free to do! And I think I will next time. And then plunk my butt on the couch and watch trailer park boys and veg out on this amazing meal.
Top with some applesauce (or sour cream if you choose) and these are DIVINE. Simply divine. The other thing I like about them is that they are totally customizable. I had carrots laying around – so I added them. I suspect other root veggies like celeriac and parsnip will go just as nicely and add a different flavor.
Ingredients:
- 2 small potatoes (about 200g)
- 1 small onion – diced fine
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 1 egg
- 2-3T arrowroot powder (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Applesauce to top
1. Peel potatoes (optional) and using a food processor or grater, shred those bad boys! Ditto carrots. Now if you’re shaking your head at me and saying, “but protein queen! The peel is where all the nutrients are!” Yeaaaah that’s a myth. But the peel IS where toxins in the potato accumulate… not a big deal if you eat them once in a while but I have three carb backload days where I slam the potatoes so I prefer to peel them.
2. Squeeze the excess juice from them. You don’t want these to be very wet – what I like to do is line a bowl with a cloth or some paper towel. I squeeze them out before I transfer them to the bowl and then let them drain further! Or you can just put them in a colander in the sink, that would probably work too.
3. Beat your egg so that it’s nice and smooth and mix the potatoes, carrots and onions all together. Add salt and pepper – hey here’s an idea! Let’s get caraaaaaazy and add other spices! I bet some dill or rosemary would be great! Mix in the arrowroot powder.
4. Form little patties (or large ones!) but just make sure that they are not dripping wet. I lined my baking sheet with some parchment paper to further suck out the moisture – make sure your patties are thin. I made mine less than an inch thick.
5. Bake at 425F for 20-15 min depending on how well you want them done. Take em out, flip em and bake for another 10 minutes. I really like mine crispy on the outside because they’re so warm and chewy on the inside. Top with applesauce and devour!
