Nacho Loaded Potato Skins | Braces Friendly Super Bowl Snack

Have you heard of Nacho Loaded Potato Skins? What does that even mean? It means basically that this is the end all be all game day snack. Imagine a crispy potato skin stuffed with refried beans, bacon, topped with cheese, salsa, guacamole, and chives. Can you dig it? We thought we would provide the recipe for our patients who are looking for a braces friendly alternative to tortilla chip nachos during Super Bowl Sunday! Enjoy!

NACHO LOADED POTATO SKINS

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Russet Potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
• olive oil
• 6 strips applewood smoked bacon
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup refried beans
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Chipotle Guacamole (http://whatsgabycooking.com/chipotle-guacamole/)
• 1 cup salsa

Optional

• chopped scallions
• sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Drizzle the whole potatoes with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about 60 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. While the potatoes are baking, cook off 6 pieces of bacon until crispy and then set aside to cool. Once cooled, roughly chop the bacon.
4. Remove from oven and let cool until they are cool enough to handle. Cut the potatoes in half, lengthwise, and scoop out a most of the flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch remaining.
5. Crank the oven up to 450 degrees F.
6. Place the cut potatoes back onto the baking sheet, flesh side up. Lightly drizzle the tops with olive oil and a sprinkle of garlic powder and red pepper flakes and place them back into the oven for about 10 more minutes. Flip them onto their other side and bake for another 10 minutes before removing them from the oven.
7. Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet, cut side up.
8. Spoon equal amounts of refried beans into each potato, followed by equal parts bacon and shredded cheese. Place the potato skins back into the oven for 3-4 minutes until the cheese melts.
9. Take the potatoes out of the oven and top them with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, scallions, chives or whatever else you'd like to top them with and serve immediately.