Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes: No butter, no problem

I was cooking some mashed potatoes last night and just as Sean was starting to mash (we actually use a ricer--the funny contraption above), I realised we had no butter! I have pretty much stopped buying butter since olive oil came into my life. No problem. I reached for my bottle of olive oil and poured liberally into the very dry looking potatoes. We added some milk, grated in a little parmigiano, salt and a head of roasted garlic. Wow, I have to say the results were impressive. Our mashed potatoes were every bit as rich as the standard buttery variety and the flavour had just a hint of olive, which went very well with the slow braised short ribs we had as a main course.

There are many recipes where you can substitute olive oil for butter. It is a delicious and healthy alternative. Here is a great recipe for mashed potatoes with kale and olive oil on the beautiful 101 cookbooks site.