Hot Potatoes: Why We Love This Humble, Sensational Staple

It so happened that we had baked potatoes for lunch the other day. After lunch, I sat down to search for something on my computer and I came across a part written article about potatoes. It seemed like a message from the universe. Why?

Well, if you didn’t see it, my last article was about intentions and resolutions. What I didn’t mention in it was that one of my intentions for this year is to finish things that I have begun and abandoned or forgotten about. And it led me to my abandoned article about the humble potato which contributes so much to the Western diet.

Why Eat much Maligned Potatoes?

Potatoes are magnificent but much maligned in how they help us to keep healthy. Yes, they are starchy and you should watch your chip (French fries) consumption so as not to put on weight, but nevertheless they are incredibly popular. Montana University has a short history of potatoes including the statistic that 35% of the US potato crop goes to French fries (more usually called chips in British English. (Yes I know that you can distinguish between French fries and chips but most people don’t bother and they don’t muddle them up with crisps either.)

Why is it that people badmouth potatoes and dismiss them as unhealthy when at the same time, many people manage to live well eating large quantities of them? Why is it that the world loves potatoes (so much that they play such a large role in our diet?

Let’s take a look at what makes potatoes a great vegetable for you.

Eating Potatoes is as simple as A,B, C.

Potatoes contain vitamins A, B6, B9 (folate) and C plus iron, magnesium and calcium. They have a dollop of protein (approximately 3 grams in a potato of 150 grams/5.3 ozs. ) Plus of course, they are a good source of fibre.

Purple and red potatoes have the most antioxidants and phytonutrients. They have more potassium than a banana according to WebMD. So good for the heart.

And if that isn’t enough benefits, potatoes don’t have ANY cholesterol or fat and not much salt either.

Getting a Gut Feeling

Potatoes have a another hidden secret too. They have a special type of fibre in them called ‘resistant fibre’. It is both soluble and insoluble so is very helpful for your digestive system and for feeding the good bugs of your microbiome.

Plus you can ramp up the benefits of this fibre if you leave your potatoes in the fridge for a couple of weeks. The cold starts to change the starch into a form of sugars. The sugars caramelise in the oven, giving a richer flavour to your potatoes. The bugs love them and munch them up to deliver you loads of the extra nutrients without which our lives are so much less healthy.

One Potato, Two Potatoes, Three Potatoes More…..

Potatoes grow all year round. There are thousands of varieties although only some are produced commercially. That means there’s real scope for gardeners to grow some unusual varieties that you won’t find in the shops. Often, they are much tastier than present day commercial potatoes.

And then of course they vary over the course of the year. Who doesn’t love new potatoes in the summer months? There are different varieties for different purposes, such as for mashing, baking, roasting, boiled, chips (French fries) and potato salads. (Apparently, you need different varieties for Austrian potato salad from those better for American or German potato salad.)

The Joys of Purple Potatoes

There are lots of different types of potatoes. Not just white ones, but red, yellow, blue and purple. They have different textures such as waxy or fluffy or starchy which suit them for different cooking methods. Each has generous doses of the nutrients your body needs.

Warning! Don’t eat green ones. Cut off the bitter green bits which can be harmful.)

So many different types too, Jersey Royals, Kind Edwards, Maris Piper, Charlottes, Mara, Russets, Idaho and many others in different countries (eg Eigenheimer is a Dutch potato). Every country has its own favourites.

Yesterday, for lunch, we had purple sweet potatoes, that stalwart of the Okinawans. The people who eat them seem to live for longer than most. Purple sweet potato eaters have more than their fair share of centenarian consumers.

baked potato and purple sweet potato, nut roast, carrot and bok choy for lunch

Both types of potatoes for lunch: an ordinary baked potato and a purple sweet potato. So tasty!

It was such a relief to eat a simple meal after all the rich food we had eaten over the holiday period when we had pulled out all the cooking stops for our oh so welcome visitors. As well as their beautiful colour, their lure is the promise of a longer life.

Cooking up a Storm

You can cook potatoes and sweet potatoes in many different ways; boiled, steamed, baked, roasted, fried, mashed, potato salad, chips/French fries. Either a meal in themselves or a side dish.

With their high starch/carbohydrate content, they make great chips/French fries. Think of all those fast food places that rely on the delivering the humble potato in chip form. Yes, they are scrumptious. But not for eating every day as so many people do.

I’m torn between baking and roasting any kind of potatoes. I love them both. Plain baked or rubbed with oil for roasted, they are easy to cook, whether in an air fryer, a conventional oven or even in a bonfire.

The Inside Skinny on Skin

Are you an eat the skin person or not? I’m definitely a skin eater but, my husband doesn’t like them much. Iit’s the lure of the crackliness of a purely baked potato that does the trick of wanting me to devour them.

Why eat the skins? Well that apparently is where most of the protein, vitamins and minerals hide themselves. Some people don’t eat the skins because that is also where pesticides lurk. Solution? Soak them in water with a teaspoon or more of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) or a tablespoon of vinegar. Wash them thoroughly. I do mine with a special brush.

The easiest and healthiest solution is to buy organic potatoes, then you don’t need to worry about the pesticides, but do wash them.

Getting the Potatoes Crispy

I’m not going to delve into how to cook potatoes as most people already know. But, crispiness is an important factor in the potato’s appeal. If you have a yen for making them more like chips, you may want to make the skins really crispy. Sometimes it just happens but if not, turn on the grill for a few minutes or so.

Another tried and tested method is to parboil the potatoes before loading them into the airfryer or oven. Make sure you are not overloading the basket or drowning them in oil as that will stop them crisping up.

But Aren’t Potatoes Fattening?

People are told all the time to cut out potatoes because they are full of carbohydrates. Yes, they are. But, often it’s because they are laden with cheese, butter, mayonnaise and other big calorie carriers. (Loaded potatoes are best sellers usually!)

Unless you are on a strict keto type diet with very low carbohydrates, you can enjoy a potato and not feel threatened with obesity, provided you eat it as part of a balanced diet.

Most people living near the Mediterranean eat potatoes regularly and they avoid the bad effects on their health that people who eat shop bought French fries with every meal suffer from. So think Mediterranean diet.

As far as possible, make the dressing and fillings yourself from real food. Avoid stuff out of bottles which may be highly processed and stuffed with sugar, salt and chemical preservatives.

Stuffing a potato with left overs from the day before can deliver you an excellent and healthy meal. Otherwise try pickle, kim chi, mayonnaise, yoghurt, cream sauce, curry sauce, herbs in a vinaigrette, mushrooms, tuna, salad. Whatever takes your fancy today.

Put it all on a plate, sit down somewhere comfy and enjoy every mouthful until you start to feel full.

And that’s the time to stop. It means that you are about 80% full. You can probably cram in some more but it doesn’t help your digestion or the svelteness of your figure.

The damage that gets done to the potatoes’ reputation and your waistline comes from eating too much and too many extras loaded onto your potatoes.

Potato Joke Alert

I remember my dad telling us a potato joke as we sat around eating our roasties for Sunday lunch. This is the British version, but I’ve also seen an American version quoting potatoes from different states.

“Mr and Mrs Potato are eating lunch with their 3 daughters, the new potatoes. The eldest daughter announces that she is going to get married. Everyone is excited and asks who the lucky potato is. Eldest daughter tells them she is marrying a Jersey Royal. Everyone oohs and aahs about it being a royal.

potato heads of different varieties all with their thumbs up, looking very cheerful

Middle daughter then pipes up that she had fallen madly in love with an Irish potato called a British Queen and they were now engaged. The whole family cheered at having a Queen in the family.

The youngest daughter then shyly said that she too was getting married and her fiancé was King Edward. The parents were overjoyed that each of their daughters were marrying into a royal family. Mrs Potato ecstatically congratulated the youngest on finding a King. She said that she had been so worried that her newest little potato would end up with a common-tater*.

*For those who don’t get the pun, it sounds like a ‘commentator’ – someone who comments on news or events on TV or radio and who would not be royal. A ‘tater’ is a slang shortening of the word potato.

Our Humble, Delicious Potatoes

So there you have it; the inside skinny on potatoes and sweet potatoes. You don’t have to avoid eating potatoes. Like some other foods, they have been demonised and in my view, unfairly.

Bursting with nutrients and flavour, they are a nutritious food. Each type comes in a wide spectrum of colours with a wide range of vitamins and minerals built in to keep you healthy. They offer digestion boosting fibre to keep your digestive system happy. Easy to cook and versatile, potatoes fill you up at little cost.

Best of all, they are one of the most comforting foods you can eat. Plus they It’s fun to find all the different ways to cook them. Bonfire baked potatoes in foil or oven roasties for Sunday lunch.

Provided you don’t load them up with too many calories or only eat them as French fries/chips cooked in the wrong kind of oil, they provide a great contribution to a healthy diet, making both you and your microbiome bugs happy and helping you to live longer.

Go have fun choosing, cooking and enjoying each of the many different varieties and colours.