Written by RHN, Lauren Duffell
Who loves potatoes?? I DO!! If you do too, I’m about to give you even more reasons to love them.
At Nutrichem we are microbiome specialists. If you know us, you’re probably familiar with two of our favourite words:
- Probiotics (good bacteria) and
- Prebiotics (bacteria food)
As your fibre guru, let me remind you why fibre is the coolest thing ever. It is a prebiotic, aka the parts of our food that we can’t digest but our bacteria can! Having healthy bacteria in our digestive system is one of the most profound ways to positively affect our health, including cholesterol levels. How do we make sure we have healthy bacteria? The main thing is to feed them the healthy foods that they love! Fibre from whole foods is best, and sometimes supplemental fibre can be very beneficial.
Ok, why am I talking about fibre when potatoes are a starchy vegetable? You may have heard the buzz word ‘resistant starch’. Resistant starch acts like a fibre because we can’t digest it, but our bacteria does! Resistant starch from potatoes comes from raw spuds or cooked and cooled. One of the most delicious ways to get more resistant starch in your diet is potato salad. Yes, bring on summer!
This recipe combines resistant starchy potatoes and bacteria rich, fermented pickles to give your microbiome a boost.
Tip for making a delicious salad: cut the veggies a bit smaller than you normally do so that you can get many flavours in each bite!
Lauren’s Dill Pickle Potato Salad
- 2 lb of red skin potato
- 3 Fermented dill pickles, diced (unpasteurized pickles from a health food store)
- 1/2 Cup of fresh dill, minced
- 1 Cup of greens chopped into small pieces (eg: spinach or baby kale)
- 1 red pepper diced small
- 4 Ribs of celery, diced
- 1 Small onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp capers
Dressing:
- 1/4 Cup avocado oil
- 1/8 Cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp pickle brine
- 1 Tsp tahini
- Season with salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil
- Cook potatoes at a rolling simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender but still firm
- Drain water and let potatoes cool until you can cut them into bite size pieces
- Mix in all other veggies and the fresh dill
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the dressing
- Pour dressing over salad and mix well