Guiltless French Fries and Hash Browns

By Mike Hubbartt, © Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Guiltless french fries and hash browns sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? I love potatoes and it hurt to cut them out of our meals when we started to lose weight but it was a necessity. After we lost weight, we decided to substitute baked and mashed potatoes for french fries and hash browns. You should check out my recipes for basil pesto potatoes and garlic mashed potatoes – they rock, but neither were not good permanent replacements for fries and hash browns.

I checked out low-calorie recipes in books, went online, and watched the cooking shows on the Cooking Channel. It seemed the best recommendation was to remember portion control and avoid deep-frying potatoes. One serving of potatoes is 5.3 oz – don’t look at a large potato and think it is a single serving. The quantity of potatoes is irrelevant – weight is everything. That works for me, as I get to eat my favorite forms of potatoes while keeping our calorie conscious approach to eating.

Important Tip! The important key to this approach is that a little prep time goes a long way. I bake enough potatoes once a week for whole potatoes, french fries, and hash browns for the entire week. I just need to slice fries or grate hash browns, so it takes very little time to make these sides when you plan ahead. And yes, these fries definitely go with my Guiltless Hamburger, while the hash browns work with my low calorie fried eggs recipe.

French Fries

INGREDIENTS (Makes 2 Servings)

• 2 small (5 oz) russet potatoes (220 cal)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (119 cal)
• kosher salt to taste

Total calories: 220 + 119 = 339cal/2 = 220 calories/serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Bake the russet potatoes at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
2. Peel the potatoes, then use a french fry slicer (or cut them by hand) to get fries.
3. Add the olive oil to a skillet and put on a burner set to 6 (med-high), and wait for it to get warm, then add the fries.
4. Sprinkle with kosher salt and then cover the skillet and wait 4 minutes.
5. Uncover the skillet and turn the fries over – I usually don’t try to get all 4 sides as cooking 2 or 3 sides works for me.
6. Cover the skillet and let it go 2 minutes, then turn the burner down to low (1 or 2). The fries will continue to cook for a bit, so you can work on another side dish for your main meal.

Hash Browns

INGREDIENTS (Makes 2 Servings)

• 2 small (5 oz) russet potatoes (880 cal)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (119 cal)
• kosher salt to taste

Total calories: 220 + 119 = 339 cal/2 = 220 calories/serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Bake the russet potatoes at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
2. Peel the potatoes, then use a grater to shred your hash browns.
3. Add the olive oil to a skillet and put on a burner set to 6 (med-high), and wait for it to get warm, then add the hash browns.
4. Sprinkle with kosher salt and then cover the skillet and wait 4 minutes.
5. Uncover the skillet and turn the browns over.
6. Cover the skillet and let it go 2 minutes, then turn the burner down to low (1 or 2). The hash browns will continue to cook for a bit, so you can work on the eggs for your breakfast.