Potatoes

by Jamie
(London, UK)

I love potatoes! They are not normally thought of as one of the healthy vegetables, but they are loaded with vitamins B and C and all the filling fiber and starchy vegetable calories will keep you going for a long time. A vegetable that keeps you from snacking on junk foods is the healthiest vegetable of all!

Potatoes are also incredibly versatile, you can make your own chips, mash them, make wedges, roast them, put together a potato salad, use them in soup, do them dauphinoise or Bombay style or make stuffed potato skins.

My favorite recipe is the microwave baking potato; it’s really simple, and really easy: it’s the first thing I ever learnt to cook. To microwave bake a potato simply get a nice baking potato and do it for 10 minutes on high - every microwave is different, so experiment with the settings. Be sure to turn once halfway through, and then leave it to stand for a couple of minutes. Check the center is properly cooked, add any kind of filling you like and eat away!

Of course, the potato isn’t just versatile in terms of possible cooking styles; it’s versatile as an accompaniment too, so choosing that filling isn’t so simple. Classic choices are either something indulgent like tuna and cheese, or a healthy eating option like a creamy cucumber salad, but the potato goes with almost anything you throw on it. Just about any meat, from chicken and beef to ham or chorizo is a great partner to your baked potato. Fish works well, I rarely cook myself a salmon fillet without throwing a baking potato in the oven with it as a side dish.

Everyone knows that standards like green beans and peas will complement a potato but unusual vegetables work too, potato works brilliantly in a vegetarian tagine with exotic Moroccan flavors.