Slimmer Loaded Baked Potato

This loaded baked potato recipe was awesome.  Greek yogurt is practically sour cream – yum! I added a cup of steamed broccoli (swapping for a cup of salad per the Slimmer program FAQs), then followed the rest of the baked potato with scallions (added a bit of bite) and chopped hard-boiled egg, which added protein and texture but I didn’t really taste it.  However, my six-year-old LOVED the egg and ate his and his sister’s portion of egg too.  I have never served the kidlets hardboiled eggs before, and I admit I even had to look up how to cook them – I did not grow up in the Deep South here where deviled eggs are a fave.  The little guy called them “rotten eggs” by mistake and it was so funny that hard-boiled eggs will forever be known as rotten eggs at our house, much to his great dismay.  (Why is it that a six-year-old has no shame running around the pool naked in front of company but is embarrassed when words come out wrong?)

I added a big yummy salad with lemon and balsamic dressing.  Per the Slimmer book, the inclusion of an acid such as acetic or citric acid at a meal can reduce the quick effect that highly refined carbohydrate foods can have on digestion, and hence, blood glucose levels. By reducing this impact, dieters feel sated longer and are less likely to submit to snack cravings from hunger or dips in energy.  Also, adding these types of acid to the diet has been shown to help burn one’s intake of fat.

Slimmer Loaded Baked Potato (recipe from Slimmer: The New Mediterranean Way to Lose Weight by Harry Papas, recipe used with permission, to buy the book click here, snarky comments are my own)

1 large baking potato (Idaho, Russet, or Yukon Gold)
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste (I used sea salt)
2 Tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt
1 scallion, trimmed and finely chopped
1 hard-boiled egg, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Poke a few holes in the potato with a fork.  In case you’re tempted to wrap in foil, don’t, as that will just steam the potato in an unflavorful homage to mediocre steakhouses (according to my Cooks’ Illustrated book on the basics).

2. Bake the potato about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

3. Transfer potato to a serving dish. Cut down the middle and squeeze the ends together to open. Top with the butter, salt, pepper, and yogurt.  Finish with the scallion and chopped egg and serve immediately.

Serves one.

Don’t forget the tossed salad!