Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prick each potato with a fork several times (this prevents them from possibly exploding in the oven). Bake the potato directly on the oven rack for about 1 hour, until a small sharp knife slides into the potatoes easily. Remove the potatoes from the oven and raise the temperature to 425 F.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, halve them lengthwise. Scoop out most of the insides, reserving them for another use, leaving a 1/4-inch layer of potato inside the skin.
Brush the insides and the outsides of the skins with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place them on a rimmed baking sheet, cut sides up. Bake the potato skins for about 20 minutes until crispy.
Take the skins from the oven and divide the black beans evenly between the potato skins. Top with the cheese, dividing it evenly. Bake for about 5 more minutes until the cheese has melted.
Serve them dolloped with vegan sour cream and sprinkled with the avocado, scallions, and cilantro.
Notes
Vegan shredded cheese may not melt in the same way as “regular” dairy-based cheese, but it will soften as it bakes. There are quite a number of brands available, and it’s definitely worth exploring to find your favorite. A sharp vegan cheddar would be good here. And, make sure to get a vegan sour cream as well; some available brands are Better Than Sour Cream and Good Karma.Make AheadYou can make the potato skin “boats” up to a day ahead of time. Cook them all the way to the point where they get filled and finished in the oven, and then store the potato skins in a container and a fridge. Take them out about 1 hour before you want to fill and bake them, then finish as directed, possibly adding a few more minutes to the final baking time.You could also just bake the potatoes ahead of time and store the whole baked potatoes in the fridge. Then, scoop them out and do the second baking of the unfilled potato skins, followed by the final step of filling and baking.I like to prepare them up to the point of adding the filling a few hours ahead of time and leave the skins in a container at room temp. Then, I fill and give them a final bake just before adding the final toppings and serving. Just make sure your beans and potatoes are nice and hot and the cheese has softened, if not melted (vegan cheese doesn’t always get totally melty).