My second favorite part of a long weekend (the first being the obvious length of said weekend) is the short week that follows. What a treat to wake up a little hazy, needing coffee, bombarded by emails, and realize that it’s ALREADY TUESDAY! That’s one of those delightful treats that I don’t think you appreciate until you get a little older. No, it’s not a new car or even a free latte, but it has its own sort of special magic. Kind of like the magic of opening your fridge on a weeknight and realizing that dinner is already staring you in the face. These stuffed sweet potatoes are a total meal prep miracle – they do take some planning on a lazy Sunday, but they pay it forward so hard all week long. Oh also, they’re a great source of vitamin A, potassium, and dietary fiber, they’re cheap, easy to cook, and they’re way more delicious than a sweet potato has any right to be. Abraca-freaking-dabra, friends!
Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ok, so these benefit from a little planning. There is no way at 7:30 on a Tuesday night that I am going to make a recipe that begins by baking a sweet potato for the better part of an hour. Instead, I like to bake mine on the weekend in a big batch because it takes the same amount of time and effort to make a bunch as it does one, so why not? Then I let them cool, wrap each in foil, and toss them in the fridge until I need them. When it comes time to make dinner, I’ll cut and scoop out the sweet potatoes, make the filling, assemble, and bake for 30 minutes (instead of the 15 written in the recipe), adding the cheese in the last half of baking time. You can also make the filling up to 2 days ahead of time if you’re a meal prep machine.
- May 29, 2018
- 6
- 1 hr 30 min
- Print this
Ingredients
- 3 T canola or vegetable oil, divided
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, washed and dried
- Kosher salt
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, diced small
- 1 C corn kernels, fresh or frozen
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 12 ounce package of soy chorizo
- 2 C grated cheese (any good melting cheese would work – I used monterey jack)
- 3 scallions, chopped
Directions
- Step 1
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle over one tablespoon of oil. Using your hands, evenly coat the potatoes with the oil and then season with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Step 2
- Place potatoes in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, flipping them once during baking. They’re done when the tip of a paring knife goes into the middle without resistance. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Step 3
- While your potatoes cool, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, corn, and one teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Step 4
- Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften and take on some color – about 5-7 minutes.
- Step 5
- Lower heat to medium-high, add garlic, oregano, cumin, chili powder, coriander, and cayenne. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Step 6
- Transfer vegetables to a large bowl and set aside.
- Step 7
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet and crumble in the soy chorizo. Sauté for about 5 minutes – depending on the brand it may take on a little brown color, and dry out just slightly.
- Step 8
- Add the soy chorizo to the bowl with the vegetables.
- Step 9
- Carefully cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the flesh into the bowl with the soy chorizo and veggies. Try to leave about a ¼ inch border of potato intact. Place sweet potato shells cut side up on the rimmed baking sheet.
- Step 10
- Mix the sweet potato, soy chorizo, and vegetables until combined. I usually start this process with a fork, as it helps mash up the potato, and finish mixing with a big spoon or spatula.
- Step 11
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 12
- Stuff the mixture into the sweet potato shells. You can be super generous here – you will have a little leftover filling once you’re done in my experience.
- Step 13
- Top each potato with a generous sprinkling of cheese and bake for 15 minutes.
- Step 14
- Garnish with chopped scallions and serve. Other excellent garnishes = guacamole, salsa, sour cream, limes, or pretty much anything you’d put on a taco.
- Step 15
- *If you want to make these for the carnivore in your life you can always substitute fresh, Mexican chorizo. If you do this, I’d suggest browning it thoroughly first (sans any oil – it has enough fat already). You can then use any residual fat in the pan, instead of oil, to cook your vegetables.
