Baked potatoes are a wonderful side dish and depending on what you cover it with, can be the whole enchilada in terms of what's for dinner. But the big problem was that it took a good 60 minutes to prepare and sometimes we don't have that on a busy day.

But now I've found a recipe that cuts that time in half (at least) and opens up the possibility of having these healthy nuggets of love in the midst of a hectic week.

Here it is:

Baked Potatoes (nuke & bake)

Hardware: cookie sheet, aluminium foil, small knife.

Software: potatoes for baking (russet, Yukon Gold, red, etc...), olive oil, salt, pepper.

Process:

Wash the potatoes thoroughly under luke-warm water. This way any dirt on the potato will loosen and fall off more easily.
Remove any blemishes (eyes) from the potato using a small, sharp knife - be careful!

Pat the potatoes dry, place them on a microwave-safe plate and nuke for approximately 5-7 minutes or until a fork will sink into the potato's flesh easily about 1/4 of an inch.
Prep the potatoes for the oven by covering with olive oil and sprinkeling with salt and pepper.

Put the potatoes in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Then check to see if they're done: you can tell when a fork enters the potato easily and the weight of the potato is enough for it to slip off the fork (see video).

There you go! A well-prepared baked potato in at least half the time. Not only is it quicker, is saves on energy and that's a good thing too!

Baked Potatoes - In Half the Time!