Calories in a Russet Potato

The starchy goodness of potatoes is what keeps people hooked to this vegetable. When deep-fried, it can turn from ordinary hardened starch to fluffy and heavenly crispy French fries. It goes with practically anything, making it best as a side dish. The infamous mashed potatoes and cheese dish is a combo both the young and old find enticing, with spices and herbs added in to give it an extra punch in flavor. Packed with both protein and carbohydrates, it is devoid of fat but contains sugar that can convert to this. Going easy on the potato fritters and mashed goodness will do your health a great deal of good, where eating these once a week in controlled portions is all right. A single medium-sized russet potato contains 120 calories.

Mashed Potatoes Recipe Using Russet Potato

This kind of potato is brown-skinned and has a slight mesh-like skin with small black dents in it. The best ones to pick out from the rest are those that have lesser round dents, that are a little deep-set within the skin of the potato. Avoid those with green tints on them, wrinkled skin and soft to the touch content. They should be stored in a dry area, and not kept in the refrigerator or washed and then stored. It helps them rot faster when damp. Always store them outside and buy these as and when you need them to always have a fresh batch on hand. If sprouts form atop the potato, cut these off before cooking the vegetable. The following recipe that I've pieced together, will show you how many calories are contained within a mashed potato serving using this type of root vegetable.

♨ What You'll Need

1. 1 medium-sized russet potato (147g)
2. 2 cloves of crushed garlic
3. ½ a teaspoon of pepper
4. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
5. A pinch / two of salt
6. 1 teaspoon of unsalted non-fat butter (softened)
7. ½ a teaspoon of chili flakes
8. 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
9. Two tablespoons of sour cream (non fat)

♨ How to Make this

Pre-heat your oven to 450°F and while it heats up, take your potato and puncture its outside in four randomly placed insertions using a fork. It allows steam to travel through the potato without letting it burst from the pressure. Using the olive oil, coat the outside the potato and sprinkle around its surface the salt. Place this on a baking tray lined with butter paper, and slide this into the awaiting oven. Time your oven for 15 minutes - if a fork gently slides through the potato you'll know that it is done. If still stiff when inserted, keep it in the oven for an additional five minutes.

When the timer goes off, carefully remove the potato from the oven and wait for it to cool down. It will be piping hot, so watch out cooks! Once it turns warm, mash your potato in a bowl (after carefully removing its skin) using a potato masher (use a fork if you don't have one of these at home). Once you roughly mash this up, add to this all the ingredients mentioned in the above list, careful to add more salt only if needed. Mix it up nicely until you are left with a nice creamy heap of mashed potatoes. Add a little olive oil if you want it to be smoother.

Calories: 120 (potato) + 80 (ingredients) = 200 ↔ Carbohydrates: 25g ↔ Sugars: 22g
For a healthier version, just add a little cilantro and lemon juice atop your baked potato from the oven, and enjoy it likewise without the extra ingredients. Have a healthy tomorrow!