Recipe: Quick Baked Potatoes

Yet another recipe for lazy people. Or university students. Or lazy university students. It takes about half an hour to prepare these.

Quick Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
Potatoes (enough to fill you up)
Butter

Preheat oven to 200°C. A toaster oven can also be used.

Wash potatoes well and pat dry with paper towels. Stab the potatoes multiple times with a fork. Don't forget the stabbing step, unless you like explosive potatoes.

Place the (stabbed) potatoes onto a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Turn the potatoes over, replace the paper towel and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lightly brush the potatoes on both sides with butter (or olive oil if you want to be fancy). Wrap in aluminium foil. Transfer potatoes to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Carefully unwrap the potatoes (there will be a fair amount of steam, so watch out). Split potatoes open by cutting a cross on top, without cutting all the way down. Lightly mash up the centre of each potato with a fork.

Add preferred toppings and enjoy. I like to top with shredded cheese, return the potatoes to the oven until the cheese melts, and then add a spoonful of Greek yoghurt (healthier and tastier than sour cream!), fried bacon bits and chopped spring onions, with sliced tomatoes on the side. Other toppings can include poached fish, chopped hand-boiled eggs, baby spinach, chopped parsley, chilli flakes or whatever else you happen to have in the kitchen. (Chocolate sauce is not recommended unless you are making baked sweet potatoes.)