Beetroot mash

I love mashed potato, but I'm not quite willing to serve it up as the centrepiece of a meal. However, turning it shocking pink by adding some beetroot to it somehow seemed to make it more able to take the limelight. The end result is a bit like a solid version of borscht, the cold Russian beetroot soup served with a dollop of sour cream.



Ingredients
6 medium-sized potatoes
4 cooked beetroot
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
salt
pepper

Method

1. Peel and quarter the potatoes and boil in lightly salted water until completely cooked. Strain into a bowl, retaining the cooking water.
2. Chop the beetroot into small pieces, and add to the cooked potatoes, together with the cream cheese.
3. Mash the potato and beetroot mixture, adding as much of the retained cooking water as necessary to create a light texture. Season with salt and pepper.

Thank the Lord for vegetarians!
One of my less appealing traits is a fairly deeply entrenched prejudice against vegetarians. My official line is that it is merely fussiness elevated to the level of ideology, a cry for attention which should be firmly ignored. However, like many bigots I also preface my ravings with the claim that "many of my best friends are ...", and in this case it really is true. Despite my hostility to vegetarianism as a creed, I like having vegetarian guests for supper and am grateful to them for inspiring me to be a little more adventurous in my vegetable cooking. No vegetarians = no pink mashed potato.