Sweet potatoes were my first love.
If you have read any of my posts, you know that food affects me emotionally. I have food memories. Similar to the way that people associate music or smells to life events, I associate food. That being said, I associated my freshman year of college at Boston University with the sounds of Regina Spektor, that I religiously listened to on my walks to class, and the smell of Subway, that sat directly below my dorm room. Both are still favorites of mine.
My love of sweet potatoes came on so strong like a middle school crush, and left as quickly as your feelings when you saw a high school boy working at Ace Hardware. True story. Sorry Justin, but Connor swept me off my heels as he made a copy of my house key.
Sweet potatoes were my childhood. From ages 3 - 12 nothing was better than a sweet potato. It basically was soft candy wrapped in the idea that it was a parent approved vegetable. No food association in my life is stronger than sweet potatoes to my grandparents house. Every single time my brother and I had dinner or slept over my grandparents house we had sweet potatoes. In fact, I don't think I have ever consumed a sweet potato at my own parents house. It was just a grandparents thing. As a child I was fueled by sweet potatoes, constantly citing them as my favorite food, and then they just vanished from my life. I became too old to sleep over at my grandparents house, too into image to consume carbs, and my taste buds rapidly deterred sweets, including the precious potato.
My love of sweet potatoes came on so strong like a middle school crush, and left as quickly as your feelings when you saw a high school boy working at Ace Hardware. True story. Sorry Justin, but Connor swept me off my heels as he made a copy of my house key.
Sweet potatoes were my childhood. From ages 3 - 12 nothing was better than a sweet potato. It basically was soft candy wrapped in the idea that it was a parent approved vegetable. No food association in my life is stronger than sweet potatoes to my grandparents house. Every single time my brother and I had dinner or slept over my grandparents house we had sweet potatoes. In fact, I don't think I have ever consumed a sweet potato at my own parents house. It was just a grandparents thing. As a child I was fueled by sweet potatoes, constantly citing them as my favorite food, and then they just vanished from my life. I became too old to sleep over at my grandparents house, too into image to consume carbs, and my taste buds rapidly deterred sweets, including the precious potato.
It has been years since I have revisited my youth and sought out the sweet potato. Truth be told, I was the one with the blindfolds on. A sweet potato isn't always encased in marshmallow and called a pie, which is how I thought of it for years. Slowly my feelings for it are growing, like they were during my childhood. There is also something magical about the sweet spud. The sweet potato blows its russet counterpart out of the dirt when it comes to health benefits. In fact, reputable news sources list the sweet potato as one of the healthiest foods around.
The proof that God exists is in the fact that something like the sweet potato, can be nutritious to our bodies. Not all healthy food has to be leafy, we can now rejoice in mixing up our diet with this delectable starch. Not all sweet potatoes have to be served backed with butter, there are numerous ways you can jazz up the potato. Today, I decided bake the potato, remove the innards and stuff it with southwestern flavors. Sort of like a healthy twice baked potato. Because I was going down the healthy route, I opted to not include cheese, but if you wanted to make it decadent feel free to add in some shredded cheddar. I used beans, corn, and pre-shredded rotisserie chicken. The hardest part about this recipe is just waiting for the potato to cook in the oven. Those stubborn guys need their time.
Four medium sized sweet potatoes
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded pre-cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 red onion diced
2 cloves garlic
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 14oz can black beans
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoon Frank Hot Sauce
1 lime juiced
cilantro (to garnish)
green onions (to garnish)
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Rub potatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil and pierce with a fork so steam can escape. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake potatoes for 45 - 50 minutes. Meanwhile cook garlic and onion in a medium sized skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil for 3 - 5 minutes. Add in corn, black beans chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. Cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded chicken to the mixture. Add one chipotle chili, diced to the chicken mixture and stir. Place the chicken mixture into a large bowl. When potatoes are done, allow to cool and cut each potato in half. Scoop out the inside and add it to the chicken mixture. Stir so everything is combined. Add the chicken mixture back into the potato skins. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine greek yogurt, 1 chipotle pepper, Frank's sauce, and lime juice in a small bowl. Remove potatoes from oven and serve with cilantro, green onions and top with the greek yogurt sauce.
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded pre-cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 red onion diced
2 cloves garlic
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 14oz can black beans
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoon Frank Hot Sauce
1 lime juiced
cilantro (to garnish)
green onions (to garnish)
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Rub potatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil and pierce with a fork so steam can escape. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake potatoes for 45 - 50 minutes. Meanwhile cook garlic and onion in a medium sized skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil for 3 - 5 minutes. Add in corn, black beans chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. Cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded chicken to the mixture. Add one chipotle chili, diced to the chicken mixture and stir. Place the chicken mixture into a large bowl. When potatoes are done, allow to cool and cut each potato in half. Scoop out the inside and add it to the chicken mixture. Stir so everything is combined. Add the chicken mixture back into the potato skins. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine greek yogurt, 1 chipotle pepper, Frank's sauce, and lime juice in a small bowl. Remove potatoes from oven and serve with cilantro, green onions and top with the greek yogurt sauce.
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