The Perpetual Feast

I’ve just come back from a lengthy business trip.  You know the expression “travel is broadening”?  Well that applies to my hips and other unseemly parts.  I confess that when I travel, I don’t count fat grams like I do pretty much every day.  I eat out, and while I don’t go crazy, I often eat in nice restaurants and, food-lover that I am, I want to eat what they make best.  I try to walk a bit more, so I usually don’t gain much weight, but by the time I get home, I feel like I need to eat right.

When I got home this time, I realized that I didn’t have much satisfying lunch food.  My freezer had been depleted because I have been rather busy and not cooking.  So I set about restocking the freezer with things I can pop into my lunch bag. One of the first things I made were these stuffed twice-baked potatoes.  They’re quite satisfying when I heat them up at the office, and all I need is some sort of salad (usually tomatoes and cucumbers), and maybe a cup of yogurt to feel like I’ve eaten well.  I usually freeze the halves individually so I can just grab one out of the freezer.  These also make a nice side dish.

Dilled Twice-Baked Potatoes

2 large russet potatoes
½ cup non-fat cottage cheese
1 egg yolk
2 chopped green onions
1½ Tablespoons chopped fresh dill or ¾ Tablespoon dried dill
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Bake the russet potatoes, either in the oven or microwave, until done.  Allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving a ¼ inch thick shell. I use a spoon, grapefruit knife, or grapefruit spoon (those things with the serrated edges) to scoop out the flesh.  As you can see from the picture below, I sometimes scoop out the bottom a bit too much, but you can patch this with a bit of potato flesh.

Puree cottage cheese and egg yolk in food processor. Add potato flesh, green onions, dill, salt and pepper, and pulse until just blended.  Mound filling into potato skins and place in a baking dish. Bake until heated through, about 20-30 minutes. This makes 4 servings at 2 grams of fat/serving.