mashed potatoes question
Posted by flowergal on Apr 18, 2009 · Member since Apr 2009 · 2 posts
I'm new to the vegan lifestyle, doing it for health reasons. My big problem so far is mashed potatoes that is the only thing I can't get right. Soy milk makes them taste sweet. I'm using 8th continent light original( I can't stand silk). I never could stand mashed tators made with water. So is there a way to make them taste less sweet? or are my beloved mashed tators gone for good? my current recipe is
4 potatos
1/3 c soy milk
butter
dash of salt, garlic powder, and pepper
thank you for any help you can give me to save my favorite comfort food.
welcome! you need to use an unsweetened soymilk. the one you're using has sugar as it's second ingredient (even though it's the light version). there's lots of unsweetened plain varieties of soymilk or other kinds of milks like almond or rice.
check out this review thread for different opinions on all kinds of dairy alternatives - including milks
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=24336.0
when you switch to the unsweetened for cooking at least, you're stuff will have the right taste. (sweetened can be alright for baking though if you like)
Thank you so much, i didn't even realize there were unsweented milks out there. Guess that health food store up the road will be getting a visit from me soon. I had been avoiding it because of the prices. We started getting vegan about 3 weeks ago because My husband is sick and the dr's have given up on him. So we figured a diet change would do him good. And it did one of his symtoms went away. But he has since given up and that symptom has come back. but me i'm loving it. To me food has a better taste now. I've stoped overeating it is weird. amazing. And my kids have even said they prefer soy milk to cows.
Yep, and you can also use broth. Or, some broth, some soymilk.
that's awesome! yeah - i know when i first started using soymilks i went with the vanilla stuff and after a few funky tasting mac & cheese dinners i branched out. keep an eye out for 'unsweetened' on the label since as you now know even plain varieties sometimes have sugar or cane juice in them.
trader joes has some good prices and sometimes you can find good deals on stuff at places you wouldnt expect- i found westsoy low fat plain soymilks at dollar tree for a buck each (they do have cane juice in them though)
there's tons of recipes on this site that im sure your family will love & my friend who has a few small kids that are still omni has been making lots of recipes from the vegan lunch box cookbook and they've really liked them. the author also has a blog by the same name that you might want to check out.
when in doubt - feel free to ask more questions! everyone here is really friendly and helpful.
try using unsweetened almond milk instead of soy...or no milk at all, I just use earth balance margarine
I sometimes use rice milk in my mash. Vitasoy rice milk (at least in NZ) is unsweetened. Sure, rice is naturally slightly sweet, but it's not a weird sugary kind of sweet that wouldn't pair with savoury dishes. :)
try using unsweetened almond milk instead of soy...or no milk at all, I just use earth balance margarine
unsweetened almond milk is what I use also... and I am making my mashed for a houseful of omni boys. ;)b
with mashed potatoes, you can make make mildly spiced fritters.
Mash potatoes, add salt and little cumin powder/curry powder. Add cilantro, Ginger, a dash of sugar and quarter tsp lime juice.
Mix everything and make smalll balls of the size of say 1.5 inches diameter.
Roll in all purpose flour lightly and fry in oil till light brown.
Makes wonderful dish with tomato sauce.
NJA
yummy, those fritters are sounding pretty good. as for mashed potatos i use unsweetened ricemilk, earth balance and some olive oil, and they are seriously way better than i remeber from my nonvegan days.
with mashed potatoes, you can make make mildly spiced fritters.
Mash potatoes, add salt and little cumin powder/curry powder. Add cilantro, Ginger, a dash of sugar and quarter tsp lime juice.
Mix everything and make smalll balls of the size of say 1.5 inches diameter.
Roll in all purpose flour lightly and fry in oil till light brown.
Makes wonderful dish with tomato sauce.
NJA
That sounds grrreat!
Thanx guys for appreciation of my adhoc recipe which caters to American taste.
However, I want you to keep one thing in mind.
Potatoes come in many varieties. Best ones for fritters are Idaho Russet. They are dry type.
But they are liable to spread out when frying. So I would suggest you to make thin batter of all purpose flour (add a little saltand cummin powder) and dip the potato balls in batter and then fry. If you want to keep for some time, make thick batter.
All the same, they would be great.
You can also avoid oil frying.
You can make heart shaped patties out of mashed potato mi and then shallow fry in little oil on flat pancake pan/omlette pan.
But remember to dab the patties in bread crumbs.
Enjoy with tomato sauce/ketchup.
NJA
You can also add sour cream substitutes for a very creamy mashed potato. And don't forget mashed sweet potatoes. They hardly need anything but some EB and salt and pepper.