2 delicious recipes for stuffed baked potatoes

A steaming-hot baked potato makes a perfect comfort food. This tasty vegetarian filling combines marinated mushrooms and zucchini — or try an alternate filling of roasted garlic and tomato.

• Preparation time: 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours.
• Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium baking potatoes
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil, divided
• 250 g (1/2 lb) small mushrooms, stems trimmed
• 1 large zucchini, sliced
• 5 ml (1 tsp) red wine vinegar
• 5 ml (1 tsp) Dijon mustard
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Push a metal skewer through each potato or push the potatoes onto a potato roasting rack. (Pushing a metal skewer into the potatoes helps to conduct heat through to their centres so that they cook more quickly.) Place the potatoes directly on the shelf in the oven and bake until they are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
2. Make the zucchini and mushroom filling when you first put the potatoes in the oven so that it has time to marinate. (Alternatively, it can be made just before the potatoes are cooked, and served hot.) Heat a large grill pan or skillet. Drizzle half the oil over the pan and cook the mushrooms and zucchini slices until they are well browned in places, have softened and have released their juices, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl with all their juices and add the remaining oil, the vinegar and mustard. Season to taste, mix well and let marinate until the potatoes are cooked.
4. Split open the baked potatoes, then press gently to part the halves, keeping them joined at the base. Stir the parsley into the marinated vegetables, then pile them into the potatoes. Serve immediately.

Instructions:

1. Trim the tough stalk off a whole bulb of garlic and wrap it in foil. Bake in the oven with the potatoes for 45 minutes. Cool the garlic slightly, then squeeze the pulp from each clove into a bowl.
2. Add 1 large bunch fresh basil, tough stalks discarded and leaves torn, 15 millilitres (1 tablespoon) olive oil and seasoning to taste. Stir in 500 grams (1 pound) cherry tomatoes, quartered.
3. Preheat the grill to a moderate setting. Scoop some flesh out of the potatoes, leaving a thick layer in the shells, and break the flesh up coarsely with a fork.
4. Stir flesh into the tomato mixture, then spoon the filling back into the potato shells and sprinkle with 50 grams (1/4 cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Brown under the grill and serve.

• Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C when cooked in their skins, as the vitamin is stored just beneath the skin.

Key nutrients: 260 calories, 70 calories from fat, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 7 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 6 g fibre, 50 mg sodium.

Blood pressure nutrients: 36 mg vitamin C, 77 mg magnesium, 1385 mg potassium, 53 mg calcium.

Keep these easy recipes in mind and try serving a tasty stuffed baked potato with your next meal.