As you may know by now, Jo and I are always looking for opportunities to nutritionally upgrade our favorite foods. If we can swap out an ingredient for something else with more nutritional value, you’d better believe we’re going to try it!
Thinking along those lines got us pondering about 4th of July BBQs and the sea of so-called “salads” that have become American traditions.
We’ve already tackled a crisp Summer Cole Slaw and now we’re moving onto another fan-favorite: Creamy Potato Salad!
But wait a second – potatoes aren’t cleanse-friendly! What’s a girl to do?
It’s true that while cleansing, we recommend keeping potatoes off our plates and we do so for a couple of reasons. First of all, potatoes – as well as eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers – belong to a food family called nightshades. Nightshades have been shown to cause joint inflammation in many people due to their high alkaloid content. Often this inflammation can be occurring on a low but steady level, which can be hard to detect until the offending food is pulled from the diet. Another reason to take a break from potatoes is because they contain a lot of starch, which can be taxing on the digestive system.
In our opinion, vibrancy goes hand-in-hand with freedom of movement and easy digestion, so potatoes have to take a back seat.
For the Conscious Cleanse remake of this much-loved dish, we’ve ditched the potatoes, salty pickles and sticky mayonnaise. Instead we’re turning to another root vegetable that doesn’t get a whole lot of action in the Standard American Diet.
Turnips!
After roasting, turnips have nearly the same texture as boiled potatoes. Depending on the variety, they can swing from sweet to peppery or somewhere in between. The best part of these potato stand-ins is their nutrient status. Turnips are higher in vitamin C, fiber and calcium than potatoes.
As opposed to the inflammation-causing tendencies of potatoes, turnips contain a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which lowers inflammation and improves brain function.
Seriously, who knew?
Planning a 4th of July menu that is perfectly cleanse-friendly is actually like navigating shark-filled waters. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic (who me?) but we hope that you enjoy this festive 4th of July dish. It’s perfect for a BBQ or picnic, and sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Now it’s your turn! Is there a traditional American dish that you would like us to makeover? Let me know in the comment section below.
With love and tasty turnips,
Consciously Creamy “Potato” Salad
Yield: 4 cups
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb. turnips, peeled, and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1 TB. coconut oil
- ½ tsp. sea salt, divided
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 TB. brown mustard
- 3 TB. red onion, diced
- 2 TB. fresh dill, chopped
- 1 TB. fresh fennel, diced
- ½ cup cucumber, diced
- 1 TB. fresh lemon juice
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the turnips, coconut oil, and ¼ tsp. of sea salt. Using hands, massage turnips until each piece is well-coated with oil and salt. Spread turnips on the baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, or until very soft. Stir and flip after 15 minutes.
Using the same large bowl, combine the avocado, brown mustard, dill, lemon juice, remaining ¼ tsp. sea salt, and pepper. Mash mixture together with a fork. Add red onion, fennel, and cucumber, and stir to mix.
Allow the roasted turnips to cool on the baking sheet for at least 20 minutes. When cool, gradually add the turnips to the creamy avocado sauce, mixing gently to coat.
Refrigerate entire mixture for at least 1 hour so that salad can completely cool and the flavors can meld. Serve chilled. Refrigerate in a glass container for up to 3 days.
I am so excited to make this TWICE this weekend. I have two events where this will be beneficial and turnips are some of my favs. Thanks for the makeover. When is the next night at Zeal?
Hi Bec, So glad you’re enjoying the recipe. Any CC-makeover requests? Next Zeal night isn’t planned yet, but we should have a date by the end of this week so stay tuned. xo
Yum! Now can you makeover puller pork? I’m starting to think it’s possible ever since you made-over the mint shake. Anyway, I’m thinking I can use a lean organic chicken breast but have no idea how to do a sauce. I do like the Carolina vinegar-base sauce that doesn’t have any tomatoes sauce or ketchup in there. Thoughts?
Hi Virginia, Thanks for the remake suggestion. I’ll take it to the CC kitchen and see what we can come up with.
I just made this recipe. DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the cleanse friendly “potato” salad. I really am going to find some of my other favorite recipes to ask for your cleanse modifications. You come up with EASY and delicious recipes. How about Mac & Cheese?? I just figure I need to avoid it or very occasionally put it in my 20%. But maybe you do have a good tasty substitute. Thanks Jules and Jo.
Hi Joanne, Mac n’ cheese huh? I’m up for the challenge. Stay tuned and thank you for the suggestion!
Dear Julie and Joanne,
I have an excellent recipe for vegan mac & cheese made with nutritional yeast. Takes about 20 minutes to make and is delicious and healthy. Here are the ingredients.
1 russet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (1 1/2 cups/ 240g)
1 cup carrot, cut into 1/2 inch rounds (130g)
1/4 yellow onion, diced (1/2 cup/ 65g)
2 cups water (470ml)
1/2 cup Earth Balance spread (72g)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (40g)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt (6g)
3 tablespoons coconut milk (45ml)
3 turns fresh black pepper
1 box (8 oz. / 227g) gluten free pasta (Garden Pagodas quinoa pasta by Ancient Harvest is my fave), or regular elbows.
Parsley for garnish
Place potato, carrot and onion in a pan,cover with 2 cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
After 20 minutes, turn off heat and add Earth Balance spread, nutritional yeast, turmeric and salt. Stir to combine until melted.
Pour mixture into a blender and blend until creamy and smooth, about a minute on medium. You may need to scrape the sides down from the blender a couple of times for everything to get incorporated.
Add coconut milk to the blender and continue to blend until mixture is creamy throughout.
Leave in the blender for now.
Pasta
Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.
Strain pasta and rinse with cold water to stop from cooking. Return to pan.
Turn heat on very low and pour cheese sauce over pasta.
Add black pepper and stir to combine.
Turn off heat and serve.
Garnish with parsley.
Thanks for sharing your vegan mac and cheese recipe Tricia! Now to convert it to be Conscious Cleanse friendly. :) Thx again!
Hi there. My daughters and I have really had a lot of fun with the cleanse. We feel GREAT! What can I substitute for avocado? I love it but am very sensitive to it.
Thanks,
Holly
Hey Holly! That’s so great to hear that you’ve been cleansing with your daughters. The avocado in this recipe is what gives it the creaminess. You could sub out a different dressing all together and try our East Meets West Dressing – https://consciouscleanse.com/the-hidden-food-lurking-in-your-fridge. Let me know how it comes out.
This recipe for creamy potato salad sounds awesome! One question for the fennel, are you using the bulb part of the fronds?
It’s SO yummy! The bulbs. Great question, but I suppose you could do both too. Hope you love it as much as I do. :)
I went to the store and they didn’t have turnips :( I picked up parsnips instead, hope it’s still delicious (crossing fingers). Parsnips are cleanse-friendly, right?
Hi Brittany, Parsnips should work great! And YES! Parsnips are cleanse-friendly. Did you give it a try? What did you think? XO, J&J