Mashed Potatoes & Carrots

Children Call Them "Golden Glow Potatoes"

Definitely not your gramma's mashed potatoes, mine either. But this magical vegetable combo makes me ask "Why haven't we been doing this forever?" and wondering if this isn't the very latest "genius recipe". The trick? Just cook and mash potatoes and carrots together. You'll need hardly any (if any) added fat and they'll be creamy beyond belief. And that color!

Real Food, Fresh & Comforting. Just Three Ingredients. Familiar Ingredients, Inventive Combination. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Potluck & Party Friendly. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free. Rave Reviews.

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BEST RECIPES

• Mashed Potatoes & Carrots Made the List!
• Best Recipes of 2005

COMPLIMENTS!

• "... a family favorite at our house." ~ Lynda
• "... truly are comfort food." ~ TravelGirl
• "Yummy!" ~ smudger56
• "... everyone liked it from the parents to the 10, 8, and 6 year olds." ~ Sarabeth
• "... they are great!" ~ Miss Malbec
• "This was great." ~ Anonymous
• "Wow, the potatos and carrots were delish ..." ~ Chelle
• "Really tasty!" ~ Anonymous
• "Add some dill. Really tasty!" ~ Anonymous

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Please Excuse My Yelling.

BUT WHY DIDN'T WE DO THIS BEFORE?

Plain mashed potatoes are one thing – wonderful comfort food, of course.

But ooooooo, once you mash potatoes and carrots together, you just might not go back. Just cook and mash a pound of Yukon golds and a pound of carrots with nothing more than a tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper. The color is extraordinary, the taste … well, let’s just say, oooooooooooooo.

And they're naturally light – and need very little, if any, added fat to make them taste rich and luscious.

So if this isn’t comfort food, what is?

Sweeping the Family

I first experimented with mashing potatoes and carrots together way back in 2005 during the first month of A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables. (Quick History: For an entire year, I blogged a new way to cook vegetables every single. day. Every.Single.Day. That's a lot of vegetables!)

Within days, Mashed Potatoes & Carrots swept my Canadian family. I told my then 80-year old aunt, my dear Auntie Gloria on the phone one evening. She called an hour later to report, "I ate the whole pot."

And here's a tip from my cousin Lynda who makes them all the time. "I've taken to using a smaller amount of water when I boil the veggies and use all of it for the mashing – just add the salt, no butter. Delicious and no fat!"

What's In Mashed Potatoes & Carrots? Um. Just That. Plus Butter and Salt.

In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. It's not that an ingredient can't be substituted by something else but when choosing the substitute, it's important to understand why the original ingredient was present in the first place.

• Potatoes Duh. But what kind of potatoes, you ask? This recipe works especially well with a medium-waxy, medium-starchy potato like the popular and easy-to-find Yukon golds. A russet potato (those are the ones with the rough skins we so love for mind-blowing Sloooow Baked Potatoes) would be a little starchy but would also be my second choice. Small new potatoes or other waxy potatoes, they'd be my third choice. If it's at all possible, stick with Yukon golds.
• Carrots Duh. But what kind of carrots? Well, just plain ol' whole orange carrots, that's what you want. Here's the biggest tip, though. Bypass those bags of prepeeled carrots: they have no flavor when cooked. And come on, it takes only eight minutes – EIGHT MINUTES – of prep work to finish both the potatoes and carrots. Your family will thank you. Heavens, you’ll thank you.
• Seasoning Just a touch of butter if your palate calls for it plus salt and pepper.
• That's it! You've got this!

How to Make Mashed Potatoes & Carrots

The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in five easy steps. You can do this!

• BRING THE WATER TO A BOIL You want just enough water to cover the chunks of potato and carrot when cooking. Recipe writers use "water to cover" as kitchen code to direct cooks to estimate how much water will be required for cooking since exactly how much will vary from pot to pot. The tricky bit is that time efficiency demands the estimate be made before the potatoes (or whatever) are ready. The trick, thus, is to know that "water to cover" is an estimate and "good enough" is great.
• DON'T FORGET THE SALT! I have trained myself to add salt to the cooking water right away, otherwise, 50:50 chance it gets forgotten. And you don't want to skip the salt ...
• PREP THE POTATOES & CARROTS Peel the potatoes and carrots both, then cut the potatoes into roughly equal size chunks and the carrots into roughly equal size chunks about half the size of the potatoes. Why? Because the carrots take longer to cook, cutting them smaller balances things out.
• COOK THE POTATOES & CARROTS UNTIL TENDER Toss the potato and carrot chunks into the boiling water. The cooler potatoes/carrots will cool down the water so bring the water back up to a boil. Then decrease the heat to maintain a slow simmer, you definitely don't want the pot boiling over! Cover the pot while the water simmers, it'll prevent the water from boiling off entirely. Yes. #ExperienceTalking.
• DRAIN & MASH Once the potatoes are done, scoop out about a cup or so of the cooking liquid. Then drain the vegetables and return them to the hot pot (or a large bowl, depending on your masher). Now mash 'em up, adding cooking liquid a splash at a time to loosen the mixture to your desired consistency. For mashing, we have a non-stick potato masher (affiliate link & My Disclosure Promise) that works really well but a hand-held electric mixture would work well too. A food processor? No! That will turn mashed potatoes to glue.
• SEASON & DEVOUR As you're mashing, taste as you go along. Add a little butter? Sure, if your taste buds need it. Add salt and pepper to your own taste? Of course.

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe for Mashed Potatoes & Carrots hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ... and maybe just maybe it'll sweep your family like it did mine!

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MASHED POTATOES & CARROTS

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Makes 3 cups

• Water to cover (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, skins on
• 1 pound carrots (see TIPS)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Kosher salt & pepper to taste

Bring the water and table salt to boil in a large pot over medium high. While the water heats, dice the peeled potatoes in about one-inch pieces. Peel the carrots and cut cross-wise into half-inch lengths.

Add the potatoes and carrots to the water and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and let the water simmer until the potatoes and carrots are both soft, about 30 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and carrots, reserving about a cup of the cooking liquid.

Mash the potatoes, carrots and butter with a hand mixer, adding the reserved liquid as needed. (It’s possible none will be needed.) Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper.

ALANNA's TIPS The bad news first: Bags of prepeeled carrots have no flavor when cooked and should be avoided. The good news: It takes only a couple of minutes to peel and chop whole carrots yourself. The trick to Mashed Potatoes & Carrots is using the hot cooking water to loosen the mixture when mashing. The more cooking water, the creamier the potatoes – completely eliminating the need to add butter and cream for most mashed potato recipes. My cousin Lynda, who loves Mashed Potatoes and Carrots, uses exactly NO butter when making hers! One reader says her young children called these "Golden Glow Potatoes"! These are especially good with meat, like meatloaf, braised meats, even stews. And if you like potatoes mashed with carrots, wait until you try Those Pink Potatoes, which are cooked with what, you say? Beets!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Half Cup: 91 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 17g Carb; 4g Fiber; 73mg Sodium; 5mg Cholesterol; 4g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 2 & myWW green 2 & blue 2 & purple 1

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More Favorite Potato Recipes

more
~ potato recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Perfect Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes (Party Potatoes) Make-ahead mashed potatoes for a crowd.
• ANOTHER TAKE Three Secrets for Rich & Creamy Mashed Potatoes Easy to remember, quick to do.

• THE RECIPE (Sloooow) Baked Potatoes (How Long to Bake a Baked Potato)
• ANOTHER TAKE Microwave Baked Potato

• THE RECIPE Potato Soup Lightened with cauliflower.
• ANOTHER TAKE Quick Cauliflower Soup or Quick Broccoli Soup Healthful veggie soups on the table in minutes.

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& Carrots Too!

more
~ carrot recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Celebration Salad (Maple-Roasted Carrots with Arugula, Dill, Cranberry Vinaigrette, Pomegranate and Glazed Pecans) An exultant platter of texture, color, flavor and mood.
• ANOTHER TAKE Egyptian Kamut Salad with Roasted Carrot & Pomegranate

• THE RECIPE Laura's Healthy Carrot Soup Creamy without a drop of cream.
• ANOTHER TAKE Paleo Carrot Soup Quiet-inducing, spoon-clinking good.

• THE RECIPE Light Red Cabbage & Carrot Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Mighty Perfect Cabbage & Broccoli Coleslaw

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This Recipe Has Moved

please see

~ Mashed Rutabagas & Apple ~

at A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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