Mashed Root Vegetables

2 golden beets

1 lg. sweet potato

5 lg. garlic cloves

3# med. red potatoes

6 lg. radishes (not shown)

fresh ground black pepper

fresh ground garlic sea salt

4T - ½ stick - butter

8oz. vegetable broth

¾-1c sour cream

Scrub and cube the vegetables without peeling.  Gently simmer-steam vegetables and seasonings, covered, in a 5qt. pot with 2-3 cups of water added.  When they're crumbling, drain the vegetables in a colander over a big bowl to catch the cooking liquid to use as vegetable broth.*  

Return the vegetables to the cooking pot.  Drop in the butter, let that melt, then add the vegetable broth and sour cream, combining everything well.  Taste to check the seasonings and make any corrections necessary.  I love these mixed vegetable mashes!  They're so much healthier than using only plain white potatoes.  If there are leftovers, I think these would fry up well as patties, for a breakfast potato option with sausage or bacon and eggs.  Also with grilled chicken or fish, if you're okay with fried food.

*This cooking resulted in 24 oz. of the best vegetable broth I've ever made!  I used a cup in this recipe and later used some in gravy and the rest went into the big pot of bean and root vegetable soup I made the other day.  It would also be a great thing to drink if you're fighting a virus, or mix it with your dog or cat's dry food.  They'll love you for it! . . . Lin