Skinny Starch Recipes

August 27, 2019
Round out your meal with these satisfying low-calorie recipes for starches.
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Scalloped Potatoes

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This creamy potato casserole, full of roasted potato slices and a creamy sauce, is topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. It goes well with just about anything--from a holiday roast to weeknight pork chops.

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Brown Rice Pilaf

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Turn everyday brown rice into delicious brown rice pilaf with the addition of currants and sliced almonds.

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Cheesy Broccoli-Potato Mash

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Add some color to your mashed potatoes by adding some broccoli to the mix. We love the flavor of fontina cheese paired with broccoli, but any creamy cheese that melts well will work.

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Oven "Fries"

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Coated with olive oil and baked in a hot oven, these fries are soft and buttery inside and crisp on the outside--the perfect combination.

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Pear-Quinoa Salad

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Quinoa is a quick-cooking whole grain with a slightly nutty flavor--a perfect partner for pears and walnuts in this fresh-tasting salad recipe. The flavor is best when the salad is at room temperature or cold. Refrigerate the salad for at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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In this easy vegetable side dish recipe, sweet potatoes are tossed with maple syrup, butter and lemon juice and are roasted until tender and golden brown. The delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transform this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.

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Roasted Garlic Mashed Purple Potatoes

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Roasting garlic and thyme in olive oil infuses them with a heady flavor that makes a luxurious addition to these mashed potatoes. Purple potatoes make a delightful lavender mash, but you can use white potatoes if you prefer.

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Broccoli Rabe & Orzo Salad

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Lemon, oregano and feta add zing to broccoli rabe tossed with whole-wheat orzo.

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Potato-Pear Latkes

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It's easy to make crispy latkes for Hanukkah without oodles of oil. Adding shredded pears to the traditional potato mixture gives the latkes a hint of sweetness; a touch of fresh sage provides an herbal note that goes well with most holiday meals. Serve the latkes topped with a dollop of low-fat sour cream or enjoy them plain.

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Roasted New Potatoes & Green Beans

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Whoever said potato salad needs to be cold? For this warm version, new potatoes are roasted right alongside green beans, then tossed in a tangy champagne vinegar and Gorgonzola dressing. If you like, you can toss in some baby arugula.

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Macaroni Salad

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Old-fashioned macaroni salad sometimes contains jarred pimientos, diced ham or pickle relish, but this version is simple and deliciously plain with fresh chopped celery, carrot and onion. A combination of low-fat mayo and sour cream lightens up the dressing, and whole-wheat elbow noodles, spinach and edamame add extra nutrients.

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Spicy Chipotle Roasted Potatoes

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Roasted potatoes get a spicy, smoky flavor when tossed with ground chipotle pepper. If you like potato skins, just scrub the potatoes and leave the skins on--they add fiber and great texture.

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Crispy Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Sauce

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This recipe is inspired by our love of the Spanish tapa Patatas Bravas--crispy bites of potatoes sometimes served with a spicy tomato sauce. If you're not in the mood for a spicy sauce, just add a tiny pinch of crushed red pepper or omit it altogether. The recipe makes lots of the zesty, lycopene-rich sauce--any leftover sauce will hold well for a few days. Try it in an omelet or as a sandwich spread.

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Bacon Mashed Potatoes

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Serve these bacon-studded chunky mashed potatoes with grilled steak or chicken.

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Butternut Squash Pilaf

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Grated butternut squash adds color and nutrients to this brown rice pilaf. This is a riff on a traditional Greek dish that calls for Greek pilaf rice and pumpkin; here we've substituted instant brown rice and butternut squash.

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Sweet Potato & Turnip Mash with Sage Butter

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This sweet potato and turnip mash is fragrant with fresh sage.

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Goat Cheese Grits with Fresh Corn

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Take grits upscale by adding fresh corn, goat cheese and chives.

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Chile-Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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Give ordinary roasted sweet potatoes a big flavor boost with this quick, Asian-inspired seasoning mix.

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Savory Millet Cakes

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In this recipe, millet is cooked to a polenta-like consistency with shredded vegetables, lemon zest and grated cheese, shaped into patties and browned in a skillet. The result is a unique pancake that's a little crunchy on the outside and creamy inside. Try them as a side dish with chicken or fish for dinner or over mixed greens for lunch.

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Healthy Twice-Baked Potatoes

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Our slimmed down version of twice-baked potatoes make a sophisticated side dish or a meal on their own--paired with a simple green salad.

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Yukon Gold & Sweet Potato Mash

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The addition of delicious sweet potatoes gives a nutrient boost to mashed potatoes. Double it: Cook the potatoes in a Dutch oven rather than a large saucepan.

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Soy-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

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Sweet potatoes glazed in a savory-sweet combination of soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil makes a delectable side dish. If you don't eat them all at the first sitting, reheat in a nonstick skillet--they are even more delicious the second time around. (Adapted from Local Flavors, copyright 2002 by Deborah Madison. Reprinted with permission from Broadway Books.)

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