Blue Cheese and Apple Hasselback Potatoes with Red Skin Potatoes

I've been wanting to make Hasselback Potatoes for ages but shied away from doing so because most recipes call for a lot of butter and oil. And with potatoes also often getting a bad rap carb wise, I thought there had to be a way to give them the luxurious decadence of a potato that's been roasted in butter without smashing the glass ceiling.

To get started, I did some research and discovered that potatoes aren't necessarily the pariah to dieters they've been made out to be - especially the red skinned variety.

Red skinned potatoes are not only flavorful and versatile; they're also very healthy for you compared to other potato varieties because you're more likely to eat their skins, which are loaded with fiber, B vitamins, iron and potassium.

Red potatoes are also low in sodium, a good source of fiber, high in vitamin c, a good source of vitamin B6, full of magnesium, and cholesterol free! Better still, if they're parboiled like I've done with this recipe, it lowers their glycemic index.

So now that I had the potatoes, what about the flavor?

About two weeks ago my husband and I went for happy hour at a local pub and he ordered potato skins. As they often do, his came with a side of apple sauce to dip. I also remembered having a potato salad a few years ago that was made with blue cheese and it was incredible. Apples... cheese... potatoes... and that's when it came to me! I would use apple sauce and blue cheese dressing to flavor my potatoes instead of butter.

The sharpness of the blue cheese dressing with the sweetness of apple sauce would create incredible flavour, and would cut the calories and fat in the entire recipe by more than half.

Don't believe me? Here's some numbers:

A standard recipe for Hasselback Potatoes has 302 calories per serving, and 25 grams of total fat.

My recipe has 124 calories per serving and 4.8 grams of total fat.

And here's how they turned out.

They were tender on the inside and just bursting with flavor! And if you don't care for blue cheese dressing, no worries, this could also be done with Ranch - though I have to say, the finished product with the blue cheese is pretty spectacular and the potatoes don't come away tasting strongly of blue cheese. My husband had no idea I even used it in the recipe.

Shhhhh... don't tell him.





















These little nuggets just scream decadence without all the guilt and I hope you try them. If you do, let me know! As well, be sure to subscribe to follow this blog, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

I upload two new recipe blogs and videos a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Visit the printable recipe here: Hasselback Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Apple

 And then cook along with me at the Casa de Kitchen Witch on Youtube!




Blue cheese and Apple Hasselback Potatoes
 Ingredients
  • 12 medium sized red skin potatoes
  • Unsweetened apple sauce
  • Blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 diced green onion
Directions 
  1. Parboil the potatoes for 5 minutes, drain and cool slightly.
  2. Place each potato between 2 chopsticks or skewers (as per the video) and make several parallel slits into each potato top making sure not to slice completely through.
  3. Mix 3 tbsp each of apple sauce and salad dressing together and using a pastry brush, slather the sauce all over the potatoes. Gently pull the potatoes apart where you've cut them and get the sauce in between each slit.
  4.  Place the potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with olive oil or cooking spray. Cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to roast. Roast in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 60 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with the green onions. Serve with more apple sauce, and salad dressing to dip.

Author:

Lyndsay Wells is a professional trainer, writer, and program developer with a passion for food and cooking. She is an award winning recipe developer, a former website ambassador for Kraft Foods Canada, the $20,000.00 winner of the online competition "The Real Women of Philadelphia" and a finalist on the Food Network Canada show Recipe to Riches. Lyndsay believes cooking should be approachable and easy and has great tips and ideas for putting together sophisticated looking dishes that cooks of all levels can accomplish.    

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