Alternatives to potatoes?

Question

My mum has been advised to reduce her intake of potatoes due to arthritis. Can any of you recommend a good substitute that will go with most dinners.

She had couscous yesterday - any recommendations how she can make it more interesting.

Also sweet potatoes - what's the best way to cook them? Can they be steamed?

Thanks

Answer 1

Rice, various kinds of pasta, lots of vegetables.

Answer 2

There have been some reports that nightshade plants do make arthritis symptoms flare up. Potatoes are a member of the nighshade family. So are tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, so she may want to ask her doctor about those, too.

Sweet potatoes do not contain nightshade alkaloids. You can steam peeled or unpeeled sweet potatoes. To do so, either cut into chunks or not, and steam until tender. The time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes or chunks. Wrap peeled or unpeeled sweet potatoes loosely in plastic wrap (prick with a fork in a few places first) and microwave 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. (Use the Potato setting if your microwave has one.)

Rice and pasta are both excellent substitutes for potatoes, as they contain high levels of starch.

Answer 3

sweet potato can be boiled, steamed, baked, roasted, fried, even sliced thinly and put on the barbie.

You can also try butternut squash and suede both of which I quite like. There's also ripe plantains which you can get in some Asda's as well as dumplings which you can make yourself or buy from a store.

For a different way of doing cous cous you can saute with a small amount of olive oil (butter/margarine if you prefer), a stock cube and some dried or fresh herbs. Stir for a few minutes and voila you are ready to go.

There are also the obvious alternatives like rice, pasta

Answer 4

You do say reduce not cut out altogether, I hardly ever eat potatoes these days by choice (although I do have arthritis and had hip replacement because of this even though I am quite young) - I love celeriac mixed with a small portion of mashed potato - its delicious, and I do eat rice or pasta as an alternative, but about once a month a jacket potato wouldn't harm her especially if its filled with foodstuffs that she likes.

Answer 5

Butternut squash is great roasted or mashed.

Couscous does not have much of a flavour of it's own so needs something else. Try using Marigold swiss vegetable boullion with the water you cook the couscous in, add herbs, roasted sweet peppers, or grilled tomatoes. Pine nuts can give it a little crunch.

Camargue red rice is lovely and goes wonderfully with fish in a white sauce.

Answer 6

Sweet potatoes are lovely. Try mashing them with a little philidelphia (soft cheese), roast them with some garlic and herbs, do them as you would a jacket potato, as you would poato wedges or in a soup. Never tried them steamed though but would probably be fine if you do normal potatoes that way. Anything you can do with a normal potato try using sweet instead and see what happens...

As for alternantives - pasta, rice, bulgar wheat, noodles, polenta, lentils and other pulses.

try adding some spice to cous cous or chilli.

Try www.bbc.co.uk/food for some recipes with cous cous. You can search for recipes by chef or by ingrediant.

Answer 7

sweet potatoes and butternut squash are both great alternatives to regular potatoes and are very versatile you can do anything with them you can with a potato eg chips, wedges, mash, roast,stuffed, boiled and crisps. I've never steamed them though as it takes too long. The butternut squash has to be pealed first and the seeds scooped out but you can treat a sweet potato in exactly the same way as a regular one the skin is edible if you want to eat it

Answer 8

sweet potato can be steamed and eaten just like ordinary potatoes,they can be mashed and roasted,used in stews,but they are more of a soft vegetable not so robust as potatoes and don't take quite so long to cook.
to make cous cous more flavourful try frying some onion and garlic with some butter and Small diced vegetables then adding the cous cous,also try some fresh herbs.

Answer 9

Mashed cauliflower.. Just steam till tender add some butter/warm milk and whip... She can top with cheese...

Orzo (tiny rice shaped pasta) with a bit of butter/olive oil and garlic.. Topped with fresh grated parmesean cheese

Sweet potatoes are really good roasted in a 350 degree oven till soft and mashed w/ some butter/brown sugar and cinnamon....

Just round our her meals with more vegatables.. Steamed broccolli, carrots.. anything but, potatoes... Or just a really small portion if she really wants them..

I make rice mixes like rice a roni, zatarainns and I add green,red peppers chopped w/ some onion chopped... Maybe some frozen peas.. Add grilled chicken and dinner is done...

Answer 10

you can make an excellent substitute to mashed potato by steaming some cauliflower, then mashing it with some garlic and sour cream or butter and adding a tiny bit of corn flour to thicken the mix... she'll barely notice the difference just season with salt & pepper.....

I like to stuff whole fish with couscouse, or cook it in a tomatoe based sauce with veggies..

sweet potatoe is really nice mashed or cubed and roasted..

Answer 11

Creamy baked Potatos 4 - 5 POTATOS a million SACHET FRENCH ONION SOUP a million by way of 300ML sparkling CREAM GRATED CHEESE a million TABLESPOON BUTTER Peel,rinse , slice potatos into rounds.Drain. warmth a million tablespoon butter in pot.Throw potatos in. mixture . upload in a million/4 (boiling )cup water.cook dinner for 3 to 4 minutes only! Layer slices in a flat dish.Sprinkle french onoin soup powder over.Pour sparkling cream flippantly.Repeat layering till potatos are used up.(end off with cream layer)2 or 3 layers is ideal. Sprinkle liberally with grated cheese. elective:weigh down some cheese and onion flavour chips ontop. Pop right into a warm oven to soften cheese and heat by way of.15-20 minutes.