Recipe: HOLIDAY SERIES: LIGHTER CHEESY MASHED POTATOES

This traditional holiday favorite can wreck your lightened up holiday plate due to the huge amount of saturated fat and calories (coming from the full-fat cheese, butter and cream). Replacing the cheese with creamy “Laughing Cow®” cheese wedges and the butter with light margarine will help lighten this dish.

Food weight: 2.0

INGREDIENTS:

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: ~ 2/3 cup)

·         5 pound bag of organic russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

·         8 wedges of The Laughing Cow® Original Creamy cheese, room temperature

·         1 cup fat-free half & half

·         1 Tbsp. light margarine (tub)

·         ½ tsp garlic salt

·         ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

·         Chopped fresh chives (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Place potatoes into a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for another 15 minutes or so until potatoes are tender. Drain in colander and return potatoes to Dutch oven. Cut cheese wedges into smaller pieces. Add the cheese and the rest of the ingredients (except for chives), mash with a potato masher and mix until smooth. Garnish with chives if desired.

Nutritional Information per Serving:
Food weight: 2.0, Calories: 200, Fat: 3.5 g, Cholesterol: 10 mg, Sodium: 145 mg,
Carbohydrate: 37 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 6 g