Lighter Loaded Mashed Potatoes

This recipe marks the second day of our Christmas dinner series and we're counting down to Christmas on Wednesday.

I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs Undressed Skeleton. If you haven't heard of it, go check out the My Story! link on her blog. She went through an amazing weight loss transformation after a lot of hard work and she keeps off the weight with delicious recipes like this one.

According to her calculations 1/3 cup serving is 85 calories.

Other A Hamless Holiday Recipes:
Bûche de Noël, dessert

Ingredients: 
-7 large russet potatoes (peeled & boiled)
-1 head cauliflower (steamed)
-2 slices vegetarian Bacon
-1/4 cup diced fresh chives
-1/4 cup diced green onion
-2 cups low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
-1 cup vegetable broth
-8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
-Salt & pepper to taste
-1 Tbsp minced garlic
-3 Tbsp olive oil.

Make sure the cauliflower is steamed completely! If not you'll have chunky mashed potatoes (which some people like!). In a large stand mixer, mix together all ingredients except for 1 cup of cheddar cheese, two tablespoons of green onion and the vegan bacon. Blend until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Top the potatoes with the remaining cheese, crumbled bacon and green onions. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted.

There is always a lot going on in the kitchen when you're cooking a holiday meal and I missed that the cauliflower we had steamed was not quite soft enough. As a result, we had chunky potatoes due to the cauliflower pieces which were not soft enough to get blended. I hate chunky mashed potatoes, I like smooth mashed potatoes. Otherwise, the flavor was delicious, I really enjoyed this -- you really couldn't tell that it was light.