Hello friends! I hope you all had a lovely St. Patty’s Day! Last night I had the pleasure of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with my church small group. Our small group centers around food (of course) while we enjoy our book this semester, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Alabama resident, Sophie Hudson. Since our gathering fell on St. Patty’s Day, we thought we’d go with a potato bar theme….no toppings left behind, especially pulled pork barbecue (we’re in the South for goodness sakes). Here’s a little schooling on our Irish Potato connection.

Our group is all about some appetizers, main course, and dessert 😀
Now I will say that potatoes do tend to get a bad rap when it comes to weight loss, weight management, etc. The truth is, potatoes are a wonderful bundle of nutrition but are often the medium of added fat and salt from how they are prepared.

If you keep the skin on your delicious potato, you’ll be consuming a good 2 grams of fiber. The skin is also packed with B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and potassium. Eating an entire potato with skin gives you about 620 milligrams of potassium depending on the size. Usually we like to add copious amounts of butter, salt, sour cream and cheese to our potatoes or just toss them in a deep fryer. If you’re looking for potatoes on the lighter side, I invite you to try one of my favorite potato recipes from Cooking Light Magazine. Check it out and let me know what you think. I’ve included a delicious photo from MyRecipes.com.
Roasted Potato Salad with Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Stylist: Cindy Barr
Ingredients
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into wedges
3 Tb extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 Tb sliced garlic
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 Tb white wine vinegar
2 Tb minced shallots
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
Preparation
1. Place a large heavy baking sheet in oven. Preheat the oven to 400° (keep the baking sheet in oven as it preheats).
2. Combine potatoes, 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, garlic, and thyme in a medium bowl; toss to coat. Arrange the potato mixture on preheated baking sheet, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until browned and tender, turning after 20 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, vinegar, shallots, Dijon mustard, and tarragon in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over potatoes.
Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
- Calories: 145
- Fat: 5.1g
- Saturated fat: 0.7g
- Monounsaturated fat: 3.7g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 0.5g
- Protein: 2.9g
- Carbohydrate: 21.6g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Cholesterol: 0.0mg
- Iron: 1.1mg
- Sodium: 218mg
- Calcium: 7mg