Baked Potato Meal Extraordinaire
A One-Dish Meal
Hate to wash dishes? In a hurry? Hungry? Want a healthy meal and not fast-food junk? Look no further!
As you can see from the photo, this meal fills a standard dinner plate. It is filling, and healthy (or relatively so, depending on the toppings you choose).
Total prep time is about 10 minutes. Total cleanup time? How long does it take you to wash one dinner plate, fork, knife and cutting board? That's it! No pots and pans needed!
Start With a Baked Potato
Whether you bake the potato the traditional way in the oven, or in the microwave is up to you. If speed is your primary concern, go for the microwave.
Yes, under all that lies a simple baked potato, in and of itself not usually enough to satisfy most people as a full meal.
Wait. I'm not done!
I admit to not making my personal potato meals quite as healthy as they could be. For starters, I tend to like "a little potato under my butter."
Then, I add whatever I have on hand. Leftover cooked vegetables will work (peas, corn, broccoli, what-have-you).
Next (in this instance) I used chopped raw carrots, green onions, black olives and some leftover taco filling made from Boca™ Meatless Crumbles. Usually, I add some chopped tomato, but this time I was all out.
Sample Ingredients: Use As A Starting Point
- large baking potato, (one per person)
- 3 Tbsp. carrot, grated
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1/2 tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup steamed broccoli florets
- 1/4 cup vegetarian "meat" crumbles, seasoned to taste (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
- 2 Tbsp. bleu cheese salad dressing, or other flavor you prefer
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Split the baked potato and pile on the toppings!
- Top it off with grated cheese and stick back in the microwave for approximately 1 minute, until cheese melts enough to suit you.
- Finish it off with a dollop of your favorite salad dressing. I happen to prefer bleu cheese--you might like ranch instead, or even French or Catalina
- Pair with your favorite beverage and enjoy!
Low-Fat Disclaimer
As pictured, this meal is in no way slimming. It is a beautiful restaurant-menu-style photo, very appealing and tempting, but it has far too much cheese and dressing to belong in a weight-loss plan. In short, it's a 'comfort food' indulgence.
Slim it down by using less dressing and less cheese--perhaps even a low-fat variety. Pile on the assorted veggies, choose a single topping only--not both--for even fewer calories, use moderation on the butter. and it's all good.
Versatility
The beauty of this quick meal is that it is absolutely personalized. There is no 'set recipe.' I've provided but a jumping-off point. The rest is up to you.
Change out the veggie toppings to suit your or your family's preferences. If you're serving the whole family, you can even set it up like a taco bar, with all the toppings set out, and everyone goes down the line fixing thier plate to suit. No one then gets to gripe about what they've been served!
As presented, the recipe is vegetarian (although certainly not vegan--I like my cheese too much, I'm afraid).
Mix and match, experiment and enjoy! I'm off to eat!
© 2010 Liz Elias
