Tater Talk

Quote du Jour

John McDougall, MD interview with Diane Peterson in the Santa Rosa, CA, Press Democrat, June 2, 2012

      

     Question: Dr. McDougall, do you regard yourself as a radical?

     “Open-heart surgery is radical. Eating oatmeal and potatoes is not radical.”

One Potato...

Dr. McDougall's response makes me think of Ireland's Irish Oatmeal and the long time staple of the Irish diet, the potato - two important foundations of a healthy diet.

• Ireland has a website devoted to the potato: Potato.ie, Ireland's Feel Good Food
• and Ireland's #1 Potato Blogger,  The Daily Spud

Two Potato...

Uncle Alvie, who liked his food served hot, never appreciated a long-winded table grace. He'd say the cook worked hard to get everything served all at once, and nice and hot, then you watch the food cool down as grace is said. "I never talk to my taters!" he said. "Bless this food, Amen", suited him just fine.

Three Potato...

After an inspiring weekend at a McDougall Advanced Study Weekend, I opened my local newspaper, The Contra Costa Times, and found this lovely water color of potatoes.

Here's a link to the news story that accompanies this picture:

Give the spud its due cred

There are hundreds of potato varieties, and many I hope to try. A friend told me she ate a truly red potato in Peru. It was high in the Andes mountains at a Peruvian Restaurant and memorable for its deep red color. And here we call a potato red because of it's reddish skin. (Looking at Dave Johnson's watercolor makes me think it should be called a Blush Potato!)

The potato is one of the world's healthiest foods. This link the provides all you ever wanted to know about the potato: World's Healthiest Foods

I can't believe that it's considered "controversial" because it's in the Nightshade family of plants. Also in the Nightshade family are bell peppers, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, eggplant, potatoes, and tomatoes. People have been sustained by these delicious veggies for thousands of years!

Four...
Some folks assume potatoes are fattening, which is untrue. It's what's added to the potato recipe that can create dietary disaster.

Not much imagination is needed to figure out what ingredients move the no-fat potato to an off the charts artery clogger. A medium-size baked potato has about 115 calories, contains no cholesterol and no fat. Add just 2 animal-based ingredients, bacon and cheese, and look what happens:

Five potato...
Potatoes don't need bacon, or butter, or sour cream, or cheese, or milk, or ranch dressing to taste delicious. They don't need to be fried or rubbed with oil or butter before baking. They don't need to be drenched with mayonnaise to taste terrific in a salad

Six Potato...
There are multiple plant-based ingredients that provide the same flavors and textures as any animal-based product. Creamy, rich, velvety smooth,salty, smokey, etc.? Except for melting (casein provides the melting ability in cheese), all of these attributes can be found in plant-based ingredients.  

First think: What are the qualities you want in a plant-based dish you are preparing? 

• Creamy = Cashew Cream. 
• Salty crunch like bacon = roasted and salted almonds
• Smokey = liquid smoke (also used to give meats their smokey flavor)
• Cheesy = Nutritional Yeast (Movie Theaters sprinkle on popcorn to give cheese flavor

Seven Potato...
No two people are the same. Beyond the basic needs of food, water and shelter, some folks require more sleep, others seem to always be cold, some people thrive in noisy environments. Sometimes, in trying to accommodate the needs of others, you may lose sight of what you need to be happy and healthy.

I can tell you, from personal experience, you can change your life. You have the personal freedom and responsibility to yourself, to thoughtfully incorporate your healthy needs into your day-to-day living to provide yourself and your family with a healthy spiritual, physical and emotional whole life. You can change your diet!

And a fun part of this dietary journey to healthy eating, is educating your palate...because
the food MUST taste delicious!

More!
Here is an interesting recipe and video from the Irish Potato.ie website:

Potato, Caramelized Onion and Thyme Tart

And here's the video. Skip brushing the crust with an egg wash.

For 50 years of Mr. Potato Head check out
The Mr. Potato Head Collector's Page