Food: Potato Skins

I thought it was silly to include this in my "Health 101" series, seeing as there is little healthy about it.  But I wanted to clarify that this is focusing on a new recipe for me, so in honor of that, I've dubbed this segment Food.  Hopefully that fits the context well.

One of my favorite junk foods is potato skins.  I love them.  They're perfectly greasy, cheesy and oh so delicious.  But ridiculously unhealthy.  However, as Michael Pollan says in his book "Food Rules", you can eat all the junk food you want....you just have to cook it yourself.  Sounds good to me!

So, I took 3 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed them well, and coated them in olive oil.  My son, who has been asking me for days if he can microwave 5 potatoes, had the honor of pushing the buttons and zapping the tots.  He didn't seem at all upset that there were only 3, but I am curious about the 5.  It just seemed like a random request to come from a kid.

Seven minutes later, the potatoes were perfectly steamy and soft.  I pulled them out of the microwave and cut them in half, then dug out a little bit of the pulp, leaving about 1/4 left inside.  I sprayed the inside with a little oil, and broiled both sides of the potatoes for appr. 10 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, my middle daughter assisted in pulling out the necessary toppings:  grated chedder cheese, sour cream, and bacon.  We cooked the bacon (1 strip is plenty for 6 potato skins) while the potatoes broiled, then cut it up into pieces.  With the potatoes now done, we pulled them out and topped them with a sprinkling of cheese, and stuck them back in for a minute, allowing the cheese to melt.  Pulling them out, I plopped on a dollop of Daisy (okay, it was Trader Joe's Organic sour cream), sprinkled on some bacon, and sent my husband outside to snip some green tops off the onions in our garden.  We didn't have chives, but I wanted something green on top.  It worked perfectly.

Let me tell you, these potato skins were SO good!!  And not only were they sugar and gluten free (a plus), but we were also in complete control over the amount of salt (which was none, besides that in the bacon), preservatives, and other "unknowns" that would normally come in store-bought or restaurant-ordered potato skins.  Yum.