If being a Pokemon Master is your destiny, the best way to catch ’em all is right in your own kitchen. One of my favorite cookbooks released this year was the Pokemon Cookbook — it’s filled with recipes that look just like the elusive Pocket Monsters you know and love.

I love potatoes and I love Team Rocket (don’t tell Ash) and in the cookbook Meowth is brought to life in the form of fluffy, savory mashed potatoes. Jesse and James’ little companion is made with just a few ingredients and detailed slicing.

My notes:

-Instead of a mix I used leftover mashed potatoes from the previous night’s dinner. I felt like the goal was met regardless of the base ingredient.
-I skipped the potato salad part of the recipe and just focused on the mashed potato Meowth head because what’s better than a Scratch Cat Pokemon mash?
-Instead of his whole body I just made a Meowth head. This is mostly because I didn’t want to open a whole can of kidney beans just to make his feet.

Meowth Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients (reposted with permission from Insight Editions):
-2 ounces mashed potato mix
-1/4 cup milk
-10 tablespoons warm water
-2 tablespoons carrots
-1/2 cucumber
-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
-1 teaspoon sugar
-Salt to taste
-1 floret cauliflower
-2 red kidney beans
-1 prune
-1 hard boiled egg or quail egg
-Hijiki seaweed
-1 cheese slice
-Sesame seeds
-1-2 strands uncooked spaghetti noodle

Cut the carrots into thin, round slices. Set aside 2 to 3 slices for the face, and cut the rest into quarters. Sprinkle a little salt over the carrots.

Boil one cauliflower floret in hot water and remove. The boil the carrots.

Mix the mashed potato mix with the milk and warm water. Set aside ¼ cup to make two Meowth. Mix the remainder with 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon sugar and a little salt.

Squeeze out excess liquid from the cucumber and add it with the carrots to the mashed potato to make potato salad.

Make Meowth’s head and body with the mashed potatoes that were set aside earlier. Put them on a plate.

Make Meowth’s hands and feet with the cauliflower that’s been ut into small pieces and the kidney beans.

Cut the prune in half and use that with the carrot to make the ears. Make the mouth with a carrot slice and add sesame seeds to make the fangs.

Make the gold coin from a cheese slice. Use small pieces of spaghetti to make the whiskers.