Many ways might be a bit of a stretch, but I was on Pinterest and daydreaming about different lunch options and it hit me that a baked potato is the perfect vessel for ANYTHING. It’s also filling, counts as a starchy vegetable, and tastes delicious!
Before I jump into my potatoes I did learn that with a savory potato it is most important to oil and season the outside of your potato before throwing it in the oven. This creates that incredibly crispy skin. When you’re ready to open it up and dive in-salt and pepper go a LONG way in preventing a bland potato. Now that we got the technical stuff outta the way let’s jump into the “many” potatoes…
I started off pretty basic with a cheesy baked potato. I could only manage half the potato with each of these meals, but this meal was so simple even though I was full I didn’t feel very satisfied.
The next time I got a little more creative with my potato. I got some beefless grounds, mini sweet peppers, and cheese and this potato was pretty spectacular. I loved that the beefless grounds got a little crispy, the peppers were a little charred and the cheese added some nice gooeyness. This was much more satisfying!
I also enjoyed this version with some broccoli and cheese for extra veggie goodness and fiber. Even though the broccoli was just basic steamed broccoli I think the different texture goes a long way into breaking up the monotony.
Out of all the potatoes though my absolute FAVORITE was this breakfast sweet potato. I baked it ahead of time and when it was time to prep it I would just throw it in the microwave for a bit, smash it up with cinnamon, microwave it some more and then shmear the heck out of it with PB.
Hubby had talked about sweet potatoes and peanut butter and it always seemed like an incredibly delicious combo, but I never got around to it. After workouts I am ravenous so waiting an hour for a potato to bake was a no go. Having it prepped really helped and made it into a super fast, nutritious, and tasty meal!
Fried potatoes (as much as I enjoy them) don’t always leave me feeling my best, but I really loved having this root vegetable be the base for my dinner. I would love to know how you like to make your potato? What are your favorite toppings/mix-ins?
Thanks for reading! See you loves on Thursday!