Article about jacket potato fillings

Jacket potato

Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.

Scrub the potato clean and pat dry. Prick the potato all over with a fork and rub with 1 tsp of oil.

Transfer to the oven and bake directly on the oven racks for 50 minutes until tender with a crispy skin.

or

Microwave??

French niçoise jacket potato

• 1 baking potato

• 3 tsp olive oil

• 1 egg

• 80g fine green beans, trimmed

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• ¼ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tsp flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

• 60g tuna chunks (drained weight), flaked

• 50g cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 5 black olives, sliced

• ½ long shallot, thinly sliced

Trim green beans.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Slowly lower in the egg and cook for 7 minutes until hard boiled.

During the final 3 minutes of the cooking time, add the green beans and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander and plunge everything into a bowl of cold water, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard and parsley. Slowly drizzle in the remaining 2 tsp of olive oil, whisking as you go. Season the dressing to taste.

Peel the egg, roughly chop then add to the dressing with the green beans, tuna, tomatoes, olives and shallot. Gently toss together to combine.

Carefully split the baked potato down the middle and, using a fork, gently fluff the inside. Pile the salad on top, finishing with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.

Mushroom

• 1 tsp sunflower oil

• 250g mushrooms

• 100g sour cream & chive dip

• sprigs of dill (to garnish)

Slice the mushrooms, fry in the remaining oil, then stir through half the sour cream & chive dip. Pile the mushrooms into the jacket potatoes and garnish with dill.

Prawn salad

• 100g medium-sized prawns

• 1 tbsp chopped dill, leaves only, plus extra dill leaves to serve

• squeeze of lemon, plus wedges to serve

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise

• 30g unsalted butter

• dill leaves, to garnish

Put the prawns, dill, a squeeze of lemon juice and the mayonnaise in a bowl and stir gently to combine. Taste and season with pepper to taste. Cut open the warm potatoes. Divide the butter between the potatoes, then pile the prawn salad on top. Serve with a sprinkling of dill and a lemon wedge on the side.

Dhal

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp black mustard seeds

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 1 onion, thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced

• 85g red lentils

• 1 tomato, chopped

• 400ml vegetable stock

• 210g can chickpeas, drained

• good handful chopped coriander

• chutney or lime pickle, to serve

Heat the oil in a medium pan and fry the spices to release their flavours. As soon as they start to crackle, tip in the onion, garlic and chilli, with a splash of water to stop the spices from burning. Cook for 5 mins until the onion softens.

Add the lentils, tomato and stock, then cover and cook for 10 mins. Tip in the chickpeas, cover and cook for 10 mins more until the lentils are tender. Season to taste, stir in the coriander and spoon onto the jacket potatoes. Serve with chutney or lime pickle.