Broth and a drizzle of good olive oil?

And maybe some chives? The guest is in her 80s so I don't want to get too wild.

Maybe just a sprinkle of chives or parsley on top - not all through the potatoes.

T.

If the problem is lactose intolerance, Lactaid milk makes the best mashed potatoes I have ever had. They are whiter and fluffier than when I use regular milk.

If she cannot have dairy at all, you can make acceptable (not great) mashed potatoes with soy milk or almond milk.

You could add a couple of small whole potatoes to the turkey roasting pan about an hour before the turkey will be done and serve roasted potatoes to your dairyless guest instead of mashed.

I was told no dairy so I won't risk it. I'll fiddle around with a few options ahead of time and see what tastes good.

I found a recipe that added nutritional yeast for a "cheesy" flavor. That might be worth trying as an addition. The rest of the recipe sounded so-so.

Lots of people who say "no dairy" can eat butter....find out if it's milk and cream....and cottage cheese...or does it also include butter and hard cheeses.
I would use broth and almond milk and margerine....or a non dairy coffee creamer.

But frankly instead of compromising the mashed potatoes for all, I would do what Ruthanna said.

But frankly, several times when I have gone to the trouble to make a special dish for someone who says they are vegetarian or allergic to gluten...only to have them help themselves to "just a little" of the regular item
Linda C

Eileen, Amanda is lactose intolerant, so I used to make mashed potatoes with chicken broth and non-dairy margarine. I tried Lactaid milk, which was OK, but the margarine was still a problem, none of us like it at all. I tried soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, broth instead of milk. I tried half a dozen margarines. Amanda finally gave up eating mashed potatoes, skips them altogether and makes up with extra stuffing and sweet potatoes.

I think the best were with lactaid, second best was chicken broth and margarine, none of them were especially good. My family doesn't like any cream cheese or sour cream or cheese or garlic, nothing but milk and butter, salt and pepper.

the vegan choices have become almost edible now, so you might try a couple of them to start. The chicken broth gives a nice color which makes your brain think it's buttery..

Annie

I'll be boiling potatoes anyway. And I can roast a few, too. It's not a big deal to accommodate her. There will be other things she will have to avoid. Her daughter is bringing a dessert. I assume it will be dairy-free and that's why she is bringing it. Gravy will be made with a roux of butter and flour. But I could easily make a small portion thickened with cornstarch. I'll be making gravy ahead. Other than mashed potatoes I don't plan to change anything.

Eileen

Earth Balance makes a good vegan margarine that can be used for potatoes and gravy. Also I have heard of using some soy creamer or even Veganaise to make the potatoes creamy. I haven't tried it though.

Thanks for telling me about Earth Balance. I don't buy margarine and don't know which ones are tasty and which are not.

Eileen

Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes are awesome and vegan. If you are already boiling potatoes, they only take a tiny bit more effort and everyone would like them. I bet they would be good with gravy! Everyone I have made them for loves them, vegan or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: PW Potatoes

Those crash potatoes do look good. Oven space may be a premium on the big day, though. I'll keep it in mind and see if I can wing it. I will make pies the day before and the turkey will go in a roaster so it's possible.

Eileen

What about the mashed caulifower option? These aren't a true substitute for real mashed potatoes, but they are darn good!

Alexa

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Makes 4 servings

� 1 tablespoon canola oil
�1 head cauliflower (about 1 pound), trimmed, cut into 1-inch florets, stems peeled and cut into �-inch-thick slices
� 1 Gala apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
� 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
� 1 � teaspoons Madras curry powder
� Salt and freshly ground pepper
� 1/4 cup non-fat yogurt (optional)

1. Warm the canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cauliflower, apple, onion and curry powder and saut� for 6 to 8 minutes. Add 1 cup water, cover and cook until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Put the cauliflower, apple and onion into a food processor or blender and pur�e until smooth, taking care not to overwork the mixture. If desired, stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper.

Those Crash Potatoes ARE GOOD! YUMMY!

Ruthanna has the best suggestion.

Crashed potatoes are wonderful....even better with butter...:)
B ut I would do the roast potatos for her.....and give all others the traditional mashed....with butter and milk or cream....

I make smashed potatoes all the time and they are so good.
If you make them, everybody will want some!
But for Thanksgiving and oven space I wouldn't do them and that's having two ovens. Roasted potatoes in turkey fat are just as good.

Silvia, thank you, I'd love that cookie recipe!

I have red rice and I found the purple sweet potatoes at the Asian market, so I'm going to try something like that too, it looks good to me.

Annie

OK, I don't know how that happened, I was looking at the dinner party thread!

Annie

AFAIC, there's absolutely nothing wrong with mashed POTATOES. You do not have to have butter, milk, cheese, oil, sour cream, dehydrated goat, or battery acid added. Especially when you're putting gravy on them anyway. Often it's better since too often, people put so much junk in there the potatoes are sloppy, drippy and more resemble potato soup than mashed potatoes. A little broth or even the residual water from cooking adds plenty of moisture. The butter/margarine, etc can be added afterward if they want.

I'd just use turkey fat. It also makes a great roux if you'd like to use that for the gravy instead of butter. You do need to be careful not to have any water/broth in the fat, because it will cause the flour to form balls and not dissolve, so it's less stressful to roast/braise some turkey parts ahead, and chill the stock so that the fat congeals on top. I've made them plain with gravy on top, and they're good, but not as good as they are with some fat mixed in.

Since we keep kosher, we can't have any dairy in mash potatoes served with meat. I normally put in some olive oil and an egg instead and it works fine. I reserve some of the water from boiling the potatoes and add a bit of that back in if they are too thick. Sometimes I use turkey drippings or chicken fat instead of the olive oil.

I was at a Thanksgiving meal years ago that was semi-potluck. One couple brought the mashed potatoes. And that's what they were, mashed potatoes. No butter, no milk, no broth, no seasoning. Just peeled, boiled and mashed Yukon Golds. :)

Pass the butter and gravy, please.

Eileen

I know others have said this, but we often make our mashed potatoes with Swanson's low fat chicken broth. no butter or maragarine until it gets to the table. Not nearly as tasty as sour cream, half and half and butter, but much better for you. It's pretty good!

i never thought of olive oil and egg... hmmm!

Like cloudswift, I do diary free MPs for kosher reasons.

I use the potato water, lots of margarine, and powdered chicken bouillon (basically salt).