The potato is a canvas for healthy recipes, that can now be prepared quickly, thanks to revolutionary cooking techniques featured on a brand new blog, the "Potato Underground" at http://potatounderground.com]. In an effort to meet consumer demand for home-cooked, nutritious meals in under 30 minutes, the U.S. Potato Board (USPB) recently partnered with the Turover Straus Group, Inc., a leader in food technology and product development, to create three innovative cooking techniques that are putting America's favorite vegetable on the table faster than you can spell p-o-t-a-t-o.

Whether the family favorite is mashed, roasted, or au gratin, these microwave techniques will revolutionize the way people prepare potatoes (http://potatounderground.com/).



The secret is science. Not poking the potatoes before they go into the microwave oven keeps the steam inside the potato and perfectly bakes them for mashing.

Drizzling potatoes with oil - which heats to a higher temperature than the water in a potato if cooked by itself - and sealing the mixture in a microwave-safe dish before cooking helps brown the potatoes for a tasty roasted-style side dish. Placing a solid layer of cheese (including low-fat varieties) over sliced potatoes in a microwave-safe dish takes advantage of the fat in the cheese to cook the potatoes quickly in a classic gratin. By adding a protein, such as chicken, beneath the potato layer you can create a complete meal. In this application the steam from the heating potatoes cooks the protein in such a way that the meat doesn't come out "rubbery," as was often the case with previous microwave cooking methods.

These surprising techniques can be seen online at the Potato Underground (http://potatounderground.com/). The three timesaving tricks are demonstrated by two potato experts, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (http://ultimatecook.com/), the co-authors of "The Ultimate Potato Book." No one knows potatoes better than Bruce and Mark and they were initially skeptical.

"I thought there was no substitute for fluffy mashed potatoes made on the stovetop," says Bruce.

"But this brilliant cooking idea yields the same results and is practically fool-proof."

On busy weeknights, finding healthy recipes (http://potatounderground.com/) for family meals that are fast continues to be a challenge. The innovative, super-fast cooking techniques developed by the Turover Straus Group, Inc. (http://turoverstraus.com/)

puts healthful side dishes - like real mashed potatoes or au-gratin style potatoes - on the dinner table in less than 15 minutes.



"We asked women nationwide to test these techniques in their homes and the vast majority were thrilled with the results, saying that they'd add them to their dinnertime routine," says Linda McCashion, vice president of public relations for the USPB. "We hope to spread this enthusiasm quickly through our new blog which easily allows sharing of our cooking demonstration videos."



The USPB's just-launched blog will house the cooking videos and feature a host of healthy recipes, reports from potato growers throughout the U.S., and updates on relevant nutrition information. Check the blog weekly for new postings and feel free to share your favorite potato recipe or to pose a potato-specific nutrition question to the USPB's nutrition expert.

The United States Potato Board was established in 1971 by a group of potato growers to promote the benefits of eating potatoes. Recognized as an innovator in the producer marketing industry, the USPB was one of the first commodity groups to develop and use a nutrition label that was approved by the FDA. Based in Denver, CO, the USPB represents more than 4,000 potato growers and handlers across the country. For more information about the USPB and its programs, visit http://healthypotato.com.

Contact: Kris Caputo Hurley Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. 916-492-5337 kris.caputo @ fleishman.com

Linda McCashion United States Potato Board 303-873-2326 lindam @ uspotatoes.com