And I say Turnip. Or Kohlrabi. Or Daikon.

It’s not that I don’t love a potato, but I don’t like the high carbohydrates that come with it. I have always been a potato eater and love it prepared many ways, but if you’re trying to keep your carbs as low as I need to in order to not gain weight, then the potato has to be eaten sparingly or not at all.  I actually haven’t eaten a potato in over two years except for the boxty I tried in Portland last March (and gained 2 pounds from!) or the ¼ cup of boiled potatoes I may splurge for at the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner this St. Patrick’s Day.  Mostly, I don’t miss them – mainly because I have found workable and delicious alternatives. The flavors are different from the potato and in some cases, more tasty.

The one place that I haven’t found a good replacement is for a baked potato. The potato has a unique texture when it’s baked and so far, nothing else I’ve tried has been a proper stand in for it. So, if anyone has found something that bakes up the same way, let me know.

 

Root vegetables, from top left: Turnip, Kohlrabi, Rutabaga (on top) and Daikon Radish

In the meantime, my go-to trio for most potato substitutions consists of turnips, kohlrabi and daikon radish. The turnip was in Europe long before the potato and doing the function of a potato in many dishes. It is wonderful in scalloped turnips, in stews, boiled and buttered, and many other ways that I am still discovering.  I have a hard time describing its flavor, but either you like it or you don’t. You do need to peel it unless you have a fresh from the garden turnip because I’ve found the skin a bit bitter. A member of the mustard family, they have a slight peppery taste, much like a daikon radish has. Larger, older turnips tend to be tougher and have more of that peppery taste, so they need to be cooked with other vegetables. One of my favorite recipes is turnips with green beans.

Kohlrabi is a recent discovery for me and one that I wish I had discovered sooner. It’s an odd looking light green vegetable with the stems coming out in several places at the top to support lots of lovely leaves that are also delicious in a salad, cooked like spinach or chard or added to soups, stews and casseroles. The root bulb actually grows above ground and should be picked when it’s about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. To me, it looks like a broccoli stalk in color and in texture. You peel the skin, which is like a thicker version of a broccoli stalk skin and the inside is a very pale green. It works very well in the same ways that the turnip does. By the way, all three of my go-to vegetables can be cut in planks and fried or roasted with seasonings and are wonderfully flavorful.

The daikon radish is a large root with a peppery flavor that isn’t too strong and is milder than a regular radish. Like other radishes, it’s great cut or shredded and added to salad. But you can also shred it and make hash browns. Or cut it up and add it to stews, soups and other potato dishes.

My favorite way to make a mash is to add equal parts of turnips, kohlrabi, daikon and cauliflower to the pot of boiling water and mash them together with butter and little but of heavy cream. Add seasonings and you have a great substitute for mashed potatoes. Add some flour and eggs to the leftovers and you have a mashed cake like a potato pancake.

Another overlooked vegetable, and one that I stubbornly refused to consider for years because I disliked it as a child, is the beet. It has a sweet, earthy flavor that is hard to describe. I tried cooking a couple of golden beets with green beans and ham the other night and it was delicious. So, I have added beets to the potato sub list. Beet greens are also tasty leaves that goes well with the kohlrabi leaf and can be used in the same way. I never thought I would be that crazy about leaves, but these are changing my mind.

Used a little more often as a potato substitute, cauliflower is also a great stand-in, not only for potatoes but for rice. You can put it in a food processor and chop it down to the size of rice, then cook it in rice dishes and it fills in very well.

How wonderful are these vegetables to a low carb lifestyle? They are awesome. Take a look at this chat I put together showing you some comparisons. I pulled the nutrition information from Spark People and/or Atkins or elsewhere on the internet, so I believe it is accurate. I used 1 cup diced as the quantity for each one.

 

 

This list includes rutabaga, which is similar to a turnip but is a little sweeter. In many parts of Europe, including Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia and parts of England, it is called a turnip and is used for neeps and tatties (potatoes and turnips).The turnip mostly known in the US is the white globe with the purple top or a plain white globe. The rutabaga is also called a swede because it originated in Scandinavia. The two have different flavors but can be used the same way. The rutabaga is the highest in carbohydrates of the potato alternates that I’ve listed.

So, if you want to cut back on your carbs and calories, try using one of the root substitutes for your potato. Unless you want a baked one, that is and if I find a good substitute, I’ll let you know.