Chef Alex Guarnaschelli says she likes to ‘cheat’ by sneaking vegetables into her mashed potatoes

• Chef Alex Guarnaschelli uses root vegetables to make her mashed potatoes lighter.
• She said thinly-sliced turnip, sunchokes, or celery root can work. 
• To lighten a dish, she said she’ll sometimes use sour cream in place of heavy cream.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli has made mashed potatoes many times in her 30 years of working at restaurants, so it’s no surprise she has a few tricks up her sleeve.

While promoting her recent ZENB pasta partnership, the Food Network star told Insider one of her favorite ways to make potato-based dishes lighter without sacrificing flavor is by using fresh produce.

One of her go-to tricks involves using thinly-sliced root vegetables 

Guarnaschelli said she’ll often lighten up her mashed-potato or potato-gratin dishes by swapping out some of the potatoes for less-starchy vegetables that are in season. 

“If I’m making mashed potatoes or a gratin and I want to cheat and make it a little lighter, a big sub of mine is a few sliced turnips or a few thin slices of celery root or sunchokes sliced up and mixed in … ,” she told Insider.

She said this is a great way to use fewer potatoes while making the dish lighter. Plus when you add sunchokes, celery root, or other earthy vegetables, you'll get a wider array of vitamins and minerals in your food. 

Guarneschelli also shared other ingredient swaps and cooking tricks 

She said those looking to cut back on carbs more can swap out potatoes entirely by using a different vegetable as the star of their favorite potato-centric side dishes. For example, make a gratin with Brussel sprouts or candy a turnip instead of a sweet potato. 

When lightening a dish, she said she'll also use sour cream in place of heavy cream. And for those looking to follow a plant-based diet, Guarnaschelli suggests using toasted, ground nuts in place of Parmesan cheese or crushed walnuts to replace the mouthfeel of meat in a chili recipe.

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