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!

This quick video shows you how to prepare a potato for baking.

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.

After nuking the potatoes, this is how you get them ready for the oven.

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).

This video shows how to check for a baked potato's doneness. These are done - you can tell because the fork when in easily and the potato fell off the fork easily.

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!