Rexburg, ID -- The low carb craze has a foe in cookbook author Stephanie Ashcraft: She's just written a book which espouses the culinary joys of the potato.

Ashcraft -- who previously had a bestseller with the carb-filled cookbook "101 Things to Do With a Cake Mix --" is now promoting "101 Things to Do With a Potato" (Gibbs-Smith).

She says the potato gets a bad rap from the low carb crowd, and it really is a healthy staple for any diet.

For instance, one potato has just 110 calories, more potassium than a banana and 45 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. It's also 99.9 percent fat free.

Ashcraft -- who lives in the potato-loving state of Idaho -- says she personally doesn't know anyone who's eating low carb these days, but she does have family members who are cutting back on Atkins Diet staples like red meat.

She thinks her book will be a hit despite the current anti-carb crusades, adding, "I think it will be very popular in the midwest."

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