Mediterranean Loaded Baked Potato Recipe
A Mediterranean take on the loaded baked potato: crisp-skinned potato, oregano-roasted chickpeas, cucumber tzatziki, olives, tomatoes and a finish of extra virgin olive oil. It trades the usual bacon and sour cream for the olive oil, legumes and vegetables the Mediterranean pattern is built on, and still eats like comfort food. About an hour, most of it hands-off oven time.
Why it's a longevity recipe
- 27g of protein per serving. Preserving muscle is one of the strongest predictors of a long, independent life.
- 16g of fibre per serving feeds the gut microbiome, whose diversity is linked to healthy aging.
- Delivers 1700mg potassium per serving: minerals associated with blood-pressure and neuromuscular function.
- Plant-forward: the eating pattern shared by the world's longest-lived populations (the Blue Zones).
Ingredients
- 2large baking potatoes(about 300 g each)
- 30 mlextra virgin olive oil
- 240 gcooked chickpeas(1 tin, 400 g, drained and rinsed)
- 5 mldried oregano
- 3 mlsmoked paprika
- 150 gGreek yoghurt
- 120 gcucumber(coarsely grated)
- 1 clovegarlic(grated)
- 15 mllemon juice
- 120 gcherry tomatoes(halved)
- 40 gKalamata olives(pitted, halved)
- 30 gfeta(crumbled)
- 30 mlflat-leaf parsley(chopped)
- Sea salt and black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 220 C (200 C fan). Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, rub them with 1/2 tbsp of the olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Bake them straight on the oven rack for , until the skin is crisp and a knife slides into the centre without resistance.
Meanwhile, pat the chickpeas dry and toss them with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, the oregano and the smoked paprika. Roast on a tray for the last , until they crackle and colour at the edges.
For the tzatziki, squeeze the grated cucumber dry in your hands, then stir it into the yoghurt with the garlic, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Split the hot potatoes lengthways, fluff the insides with a fork and season with salt and pepper.
Load each potato with the chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and feta, spoon the tzatziki over the top, then finish with the remaining olive oil and the parsley.
Notes
Any floury baking potato works; waxy ones stay dense instead of fluffing up. Baking on the rack rather than on a tray is what gives you the crisp skin. The olive oil that goes on at the end is never heated, so it keeps its peppery bite. For a vegan version, use a thick unsweetened soy yoghurt and skip the feta. Nutrition is an estimate per serving, calculated from standard food tables rather than a lab analysis.
