Diets are stupid – So here is Jason’s potato recipe

Diets, I think we can all agree, are stupid.

We’ve all been there.

We get fed up with our current state of being, declare loudly “That’s it, I’m never eating again” and then go on some crazy restrictive diet that cuts out your favorite foods and has you chomping on raw celery and plain tuna three times a day. That lasts about 2 days or until the first weekend, where once again you declare loudly “This sucks!” and then proceed to throw a double cheeseburger and a half gallon of ice cream down your gullet.

People by nature tend to want what they are told they can not have, and nothing does a better job of that than a diet. It’s all contradictory, as one diet says you shouldn’t even look at a potato, and another diet will say the only thing you should eat is potatoes.

One will say you absolutely should avoid tomatoes and peppers, another says they are poison.

The list of foods I’ve been told not to eat is long and distinguished, and I pretty much eat all of them, most of them daily to boot. Bananas, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, full fat dairy, and chips are foods I eat every day. The trick is reading ingredient labels, understanding timing, and what foods work together.

Bananas for instance, are considered a higher sugar fruit, but they are also full of fiber, minerals, and help muscles to recover for better strength gains. By pairing it with a protein shake and some walnuts with omega-3 fats, it slows the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream. Little tricks like that can make all the difference.

There are no “bad” foods. There are bad man made ingredients that are hidden in most processed and pre-prepared foods, and that’s where the real problems start. Understand what you are eating, stick with home made and natural foods, and use grass fed dairy whenever possible.

Potatoes really got a bad rap as the Atkins and Keto diets surged in popularity. The problem, again, is man made. If you strip off all the skin with the fiber, deep fry them in animal lard, and serve them up with 1000 mg of sodium and a cup of sugar laden ketchup, then sure, that’s going to be a problem. But, if you keep the skin, stick to lower carb potatoes like purple potatoes or sweet potatoes, bake them instead of fry them, and you have a nutrition powerhouse with all kinds of healthy properties.

I’m finding it harder to find just purple potatoes in the local mega marts lately, but it’s still possible to get them in the mixed bag of small potatoes along with some reds and yukons. I like to up the nutrition by pairing them with some cauliflower and baking for all kinds of delicious flavor. And the sky is the limit on flavor, as they are perfectly adept at playing along with whatever taste profile you want to give them.

For instance, I made Mexican Casserole this weekend and used chili powder and cumin on the potato/cauliflower combo, and it was fantastic. A little plain yogurt, some bits of cilantro, and some pepper jack cheese made this side a star.

https://www.mysaline.com/shirtless-mexican-casserole/

This is short and sweet, and super easy to bring together to really round out a main dish. Don’t let your keto friends scare you off, these potatoes will build a body good and keep you from yelling “This sucks!” out randomly scaring the kids.

Sheetpan potatoes and cauliflower

Ingredients:

1 bag purple potatoes or mixed potatoes
1 head cauliflower
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt, fresh ground pepper, onion and garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin and chili powder

Instructions:

Wash and dry the potatoes and cauliflower. Chop the potatoes up into 1/4s and the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Toss in a bowl with all the ingredients. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment:

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Take out, stir and flip the veggies, rotate the pan, and bake another 20 minutes:

Remove from the oven and top with shredded pepper jack cheese. Serve with shirtless chef mexican casserole, topped with plain yogurt, cilantro, and diced avocado if desired.