THE PERFECT BAKED POTATO

Baked potatoes are one of those dishes that you eat it when it’s served with your steak, but it’s not anything special that you go out of your way to prepare, I’ll bet. And you probably never eat the skin, right?

I always felt the same way, until I learned how to make one the right way — creamy and fluffy inside (like a good mashed potato) with a crispy, flavorful skin that you actually want to eat.

There’s no foil involved here; in fact, baking potatoes in foil is what results in that soggy skin — you’re steaming the potato after all.

Instead, you’ll coat your potato in a generous helping of oil, in this case Ava Jane’s Kitchen extra-virgin avocado oil, and then roll it in coarse salt. Colima Sea Salt is perfect for this.

Besides not wrapping your potatoes in foil, the key to a good baked potato is time. It’s all hands off time, but there’s no real way to cut it back if you want perfection, besides size. Those giant potatoes you may find in the supermarket can take almost 2 hours start to finish, so keep that in mind when choosing your potatoes. I’ve found that an 8-10 ounce potato is a good size; it will take you about an hour.

The easiest way to eat these is with butter and maybe a dollop of sour cream on the side of your favorite protein. But you can also make these a meal on their own. I fill mine with beans, salsa, and cheese sometimes, or roasted broccoli and tuna, or sometimes just a simple chopped spinach tossed with lemon. You’ll find if you eat the skin, you can fill it with some veggies and a bit of protein and it will make a mighty fine meal all on its own.