Along with toasting bread, toaster ovens can bake and broil. If you use yours to bake a potato, you can free up your conventional oven for other dishes. Baked potatoes make a satisfying side dish or main course, especially when topped with lean ground beef or reduced-fat cheese.

Use a dehydrator to make crispy potatoes similar in texture -- but healthier -- than salted-and-fried potato chips. Potatoes have as much or more potassium than bananas, broccoli or spinach. They are also a source of vitamin C, magnesium, iron and zinc.

Potatoes have a bad reputation for being high in carbohydrates and low in nutrition. While versions fried in trans-fat-laden oil or doused with cheese and butter might not be the healthiest options, a baked potato can be part of a healthy diet.

Although small red potatoes are often referred to as baby potatoes, the tender little potatoes, or new potatoes, can be any variety of immature potato in addition to red. The microwave oven is a good cooking method for baby potatoes because they have a high moisture content that works well for steaming.

A big baked potato with a dollop of sour cream and chives or laced with garlic and cheese is one of the sinful pleasures of dining. Roasting potatoes is one of the simplest tasks for the beginning cook to master.

You really want a baked potato, but perhaps you do not have a conventional oven or the hour and a half that it will take to bake a potato in your oven. Popping a potato in the microwave saves time and effort, but there are trade-offs for doing so. A potato is a potato, right? Not necessarily.

No food generates body fat in any specific location, but some people put on weight in the thighs and buttocks more easily than others. If you put on weight in lower areas first, you have a health advantage over those who store fat around the waist.

Many vegetables are commonly consumed raw, as well as cooked. In general, raw vegetables are bright in color, juicy and fresh flavored. However, there are some vegetables that are seldom eaten raw. The potato is one of those.

Blanching and freezing potatoes for French fries is a simple process. Blanching is the process of scalding vegetables to halt the action of naturally-occurring enzymes present in all vegetables.

Potatoes are a source of carbohydrates, which provide you with energy, due to their high nutritional value. A typical russet potato contains no fat or cholesterol and is packed with fiber, potassium, B-complex vitamins, iron and vitamin C.

Potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. Properly cooked in a pan, they're crisp and golden on the outside and creamy-smooth on the inside. Although pan-fying is a natural choice for thin-sliced breakfast home fries, savory seasonings make these potatoes a perfect dinner side dish as well.

Red potatoes are the most common variety of potatoes in the United States and sometimes are referred to as new potatoes. A baby red potato is harvested when the potato is still small. It has red skin, is typically very smooth and is full of flavor.