TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

yields 6 PEOPLE AS A SIDE

ingredients

  • 3 large russet (baking) potatoes (about 3 LBs total), scrubbed but with the skin still on
  • 1 TBL olive oil
  • 1/2 large yellow onion
  • 3 cup kale or spinach
  • 3 clove garlic
  • 1 1/2 cup cooked white or navy beans
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
  • 2 TBL lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • Spray oil

Instructions

0 chop onion

1 First you got to make some baked potatoes, also known as the first bake. If you are going to do that in the oven, crank it up to 400°F. Stab the potatoes all over with a fork so that the steam can escape when you stick the spuds in the oven. Bake until you can stab them with a small knife without any resistance, about 1 hour. If you’re using the much–faster microwave method, stab those sons of all over with a fork just the same. Microwave them on high for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping them halfway. Test by stabbing them with a small knife and keep microwaving until the knife stabs easy. The time will vary based on how beat down your microwave is.

2 While all that is going down, start making the filling. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high and add the oil. Throw in the onion and stir around until it starts looking really good and brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the kale and keep sautéing until it starts to really cook down, like 3 to 5 minutes depending on how hearty that is. Fold in the garlic and remove from the heat.

3 In a blender or food processor, combine the beans and milk and run that until the beans are all broken down. Set that aside.

4 Now it’s time to stuff and twice-bake. Crank that oven back up to 400°F. When the cooked potatoes are cool enough that you can with them, halve them lengthwise and scoop out most of that fluffy white middle into a large bowl. You want to leave about .25 inch of skin and some potato flesh so that these skins can kinda stand on their own. Yeah, you just read skin and flesh in the same sentence in a plant-based cookbook. Deal with it. Mash the insides of the cooked potato until there are many chunks. Stir in the bean/milk mixture and keep trying to break up any big potato clumps. Fold in the kale and onions, lemon juice, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Taste and add more of whatever the you think it needs.

5 Arrange the potato skins on a rimmed baking sheet. Take big spoonfuls of the filling and pile it in the skins, gently pressing that down so that they are all filled up and sorta domed over. Spray the tops with a little oil and bake until the tops are looking golden and kinda toasty, 25 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle some extra paprika on top if you wanna be fancy. Serve warm.

Modifications

Yeah, just grab the biggest damn potatoes you can find.

A 15-ounce can of beans, drained and rinsed, is cool too.