Healthy Potato Recipes

Potatoes are such a useful standby food, and with these healthy potato recipes, you'll never be lost for ideas on how to use them.

Healthy Potato Recipes: main course with meat

SPRING SHEPHERD'S PIE

A lovely variation on the usual mash-topped pie, to make with new potatoes, when good mashers are unavailable. Use branded chopped tomatoes – I often find the own-label varieties are too watery. Long slow cooking gives the filling a wonderful depth of flavour.

500g (5 cups) best organic minced/ground beef
1 onion, peeled and chopped,2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed, sunflower oil,1 can chopped tomatoes, 100ml (scant 1/2 cup) red wine, good dash of Worcester sauce, generous pinch dried mixed herbs, or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 500g (3 1/2 cups) new potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, 50g (1/2 cup) mature Cheddar cheese, grated/shredded.

Serves 4-6: Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Soften the chopped onion in the sunflower oil over a gentle heat for 5 minutes. Add the meat, and stir round until coloured. Add the tomatoes, wine, Worcester sauce, herbs and tomato puree and stir well.Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook uncovered for 1 hour.Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes or until just tender when tested with a knife point. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.Put the meat sauce into a greased ovenproof dish. Slice the potatoes into slices about 0.5cm thick and arrange in a layer on top of the meat. Sprinkle over the grated cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.

Healthy Potato Recipes: main course salad with fish

POTATO, SPINACH AND MACKEREL SALAD

A quick and tasty salad, and a good way to serve oily fish. Be careful to pick out any sharp bones before you flake the fish. You can use prawns instead of the mackerel.

500g (3 1/2 cups) salad potatoes, unpeeled
350g (12 oz) smoked mackerel, skinned and flaked,100g (2 cups) baby spinach leaves, washed, 3 tbsp green pesto, juice of 1 small lemon,3 tbsp olive oil

Serves 4: Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes. Drain, return to pan, and break them up roughly with a fork. Put the potatoes into a bowl, add the flaked fish and spinach and mix gently. Mix the pesto, lemon juice and olive to make a dressing, pour over the potato mixture and toss the salad very gently.

Healthy Potato Recipes: vegetarian main course

TASTY TORTILLA

You can use more or less any vegetables in tortilla, but this basic recipe is very satisfying and doesn't need anything more than a tomato salad and some bread to complete the meal.

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced (you can use leftover boiled potatoes), 1 large onion, chopped, 8 eggs, beaten, a little olive oil.

Serves 4: Cook the onion in the oil until soft. If using raw potato, cook this with the onion, turning occasionally until cooked through. If using leftovers, they just need to brown and heat through. Pour in the seasoned eggs and cook until the underside is brown and the tortilla is becoming firm. If you're feeling brave, slide the tortilla on to a large plate, then flip it back into the pan, top down, to finish cooking. Otherwise, finish cooking the top under a hot grill. Good served hot, or left to cool and served in thick slices.

Healthy Potato Recipes: main course with fish

SAVOURY HADDOCK HASH

This is an all-time favourite with my family, and an excellent way to add fish to the weekly menu. Use un-dyed smoked haddock if possible. For a more substantial meal, top each portion with a poached egg.

500g (3 1/2 cups) waxy salad or new potatoes
bunch spring onions (scallions, 450g (1 lb) smoked haddock, 1 tbsp cooking oil, small bunch of parsley, chopped.

Serves 4: Boil the potatoes until tender. When cool enough to handle cut them into large cubes. Wash and trim the spring onions, and chop finely. Skin the haddock and cut into fat cubes, picking out any bones. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the potatoes until they start to crisp. Add the onions and fish, and cook, stirring gently, until the fish has turned opaque. Season, but go easy on salt, as the fish can be quite salty. prinkle over the parsley and serve.

Healthy Potato Recipes: accompaniments

QUICK GARLIC POTATOES

1 medium potato per person, unpeeled, half tbsp olive or sunflower oil per potato, 1 clove of garlic per potato, crushed.

Cut the potatoes lengthways into slices 5mm thick. Boil the slices for 4-5 minutes until tender. Cut a criss-cross pattern on the surface of each slice. Mix the garlic into the oil, and use to brush the potato slices. Cook under a hot grill until crisp and well-browned, turning once.

FAST-ROAST POTATOES

1 medium potato per person, unpeeled, 20ml (2 tbsp) olive oil per potato, 1-2 whole bulbs of garlic, sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Halve the potatoes crossways and slash the cut surfaces with criss-cross cuts. Put in a roasting tin. Scatter the garlic cloves and rosemary around, pour over the oil, and put in the oven at 180C/350F/gas 4. Cook for 30-40 mins, until tender and golden brown, basting once.

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