Photo: Gluten Free Cooking, YouTube
It’s been a long and interesting personal health journey since I started this website.
I’ve been through all sorts of diets including something approximating raw vegan, based on green juice and nuts (it turned out to be more of a long-range detox plan than anything else, that summarily ended with me breaking off a tooth and needing an implant) to the Bulletproof Diet based around coffee with butter in it and putting myself into a ketogenic state.
But as far as healthy diets go there’s nothing I’ve found that can top going back to the basics: eating lots of whole organic plant-based foods as the foundation of my diet.
One of the difficulties of such a diet is satisfying that urge for comfort food, but luckily there are plenty of unique recipes you can draw upon in such a time — including this one from our friends at the Pure Bar company and their founder Veronica Bosgraaf, who came out with a stunning cookbook called Pure Food back in 2015.
The cookbook includes tons of unique plant-based recipes (some include cheese) that sync up with the seasons and utilize the types of produce you’ll be likely to find at your local farmer’s market.
In this case, we’d like to share the Garlic and Thyme mashed potatoes recipe with you, as it is one of the easier and most satisfying dishes you will find in this unique cookbook.
Garlic and Thyme Mashed Potatoes Recipe
While potatoes have gotten a bad rap in some nutrition circles, there’s a reason why so many people crave them: they’re high in potassium and many vitamins and minerals, so much so that one man even practically lived on them for an entire year and actually lost weight in the process.
While they do contain the anti-nutrient lectin you may want to learn about before eating in large amounts, anecdotal evidence is clear that they can be a healthy part of most diets.
It’s also more important to buy potatoes organic than virtually any other food, as GMO potatoes are now a possible concern, and potatoes are one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there.
With that being said, here’s the recipe from Veronica’s exceptional Pure Food cookbook (you can get the paperback on Amazon for a shockingly low price now):
Recipe:
-8 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
-2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
-3 garlic cloves
-1 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk, homemade (recipe in book) or store-bought
-2 teaspoons sea salt
-6 tablespoons salted butter or vegan alternative
-Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Wrap he unpeeled garlic cloves in aluminum foil and roast until soft, about 30 minutes. Remove the garlic from the oven and let it cool.
3. Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover and add the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.
4. When the garlic is cool enough to handle, peel and chop the cloves. Add the garlic, almond milk, and butter to the potatoes. Mash them well with a potato masher until the desired consistency is reached. Stir in the thyme, season to taste with pepper, and serve warm.
Health Benefits of Thyme and Garlic
“Mashed potatoes in my opinion are one of life’s simple pleases,” says Bosgraaf in the book.
“I always encourage people to find ways to make their favorite dishes healthier instead of just walking away from them…When made with nondairy milk and paired with nutritional powerhouses like garlic and thyme, they become a healthy dish rather than an indulgence,” she adds.
If you’ve never had thyme before in dishes, you’re missing out.
One of my absolute favorite thyme-related dishes is zaatar pita bread, which includes a thyme-based herb mix and is said to be an excellent brain-boosting early morning dish in Middle Eastern culture.
Thyme has a fresh and invigorating scent and taste that makes it one of the medicinally beneficial cooking herbs out there to eat on a daily basis.
The health benefits of thyme include:
-Antibacterial and possible anti-fungal properties
-A strong ability to fight cancer cells in vitro
-May be helpful for reducing blood pressure
-Can help protect against bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses
-The extracts may protect against colon cancer
-And much more (see article here)
Throw in the garlic, which is one of the best health foods for longevity that can also help keep bad bugs at bay and reduce blood pressure, and you can easily see why this recipe is a massive improvement on traditional mashed potatoes when it comes to its health-balancing properties.
These are just a few of the reasons why it’s so important to get more healthy and medicinal herbs in your everyday cooking, and why these mashed potatoes will be such a hit with your family.
For more recipes like these, check out the Pure Food Cookbook on Amazon, and feel free to subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.
Thanks for reading!
Nick Meyer
AltHealthWorks.com Founder
This article is for informational purposes only, consult a doctor for more information on health benefits and disease prevention.
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About Nick Meyer
