Walnut-Crusted Potato and Blue Cheese Cakes

To avoid dirtying another dish, mash the potatoes in the same pot used to cook them. The cakes can be shaped a few hours ahead of time, covered, and chilled until you're ready to eat. After chilling, cook them in the pan for an extra minute to make sure the inside of the cakes are thoroughly heated. Two potato cakes have 761 milligrams of potassium.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 potato cakes)

Ingredients

• 2  pounds  small red potatoes, halved
• 1  garlic clove, peeled
• 1/3  cup  (about 1 1/2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 3  tablespoons  chopped walnuts
• 2  (1 1/2-ounce) slices sourdough bread
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil, divided

Preparation

Place potato halves and garlic clove in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return potato halves and garlic clove to pan. Add blue cheese and next 4 ingredients (through black pepper); mash with a potato masher to desired consistency. Cool slightly. Shape the potato mixture into 12 (1/2-inch-thick) cakes; set aside.

Place walnuts and bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Place in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Dredge potato cakes in breadcrumb mixture.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 6 potato cakes, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove cakes from pan; cover and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and 6 potato cakes.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

219 (30% from fat)

Fat:

7.4g (sat 2g,mono 2.6g,poly 2.2g)

Protein:

6.7g

Carbohydrate:

32.5g

Fiber:

3.3g

Cholesterol:

6mg

Iron:

1.9mg

Sodium:

489mg

Calcium:

84mg