Garlic Kale Mashed Potatoes: Thanksgiving Cleaned Up Part 2

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful day. No presents, no pressure, just an abundance of food and family. But Thanksgiving can be a minefield of gluten-filled carbs, and sugar-overload. So in this series of “Thanksgiving Cleaned Up,” I’ve taken some classic Thanksgiving staple foods and made them a little bit less detrimental. You can check out my other posts, Sweet Potato Casserole, Pinot Noir Cranberry Sauce, and Grain-Free Drop Biscuits and have yourself a slightly less guilty, but certain not less hearty, Thanksgiving feast! Wonderful additions to this series would be my Autumn Salad and my Grain-Free Pumpkin Bread!

This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving: mashed potatoes. But sometimes it’s hard to feel like it’s okay eating an entire plateful (just me?). That is, until you add kale. Add kale and you can eat the entire pot. Those are my rules, and I’m sticking to them. These mashed potatoes are probably some of the best I’ve ever had. As I was mashing them up, I kept sneaking bites. Before I even took pictures of it, I’d probably eaten a few spoonfuls. Oh and they were gone by the end of the day. And like I said, totally not even feeling guilty because that means I ate a bunch of green goodness as well. These potatoes are everything you want from your comfort food friend, and then some. Bring this one to your Thanksgiving potluck and tell people to eat freely because it’s healthy (healthier…)!

Garlic Kale Mashed Potatoes

• 2 lbs of red potatoes, chopped into 1 inch chunks
• 2 large leaves of kale, chopped (about 4 cups)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (Hey, learn how to prepare and maximize the benefits of garlic here!)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp grass-fed butter (I use Kerrygold)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

1. In 3-4 quarts of water, boil your chopped potatoes until fork tender (about 20 minutes)
2. While the potatoes are boiling, add your olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to a saute pan over medium heat. Allow the garlic to cook and flavor the oil until just slightly golden.
3. To the oil mixture, add the chopped kale to the saute pan. Allow the kale to wilt and cook down, until it is completely shrunk down in size and wilted.
4. Drain the potatoes, and add them back to the now empty pot that they cooked in. Add the kale and flavored oil to the potatoes. Using a fork or potatoes masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and combined the kale and flavored oil into the potatoes.
5. Add the butter and Parmesan to the mashed potato mixture. Again, mix until melted and combined.
6. Serve hot.

Makes about 4-6 servings of potatoes.