Meatless Monday: Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
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I keep a lot of random lists in Evernote, one of which includes things I want to cook (typically, ideas I have for original recipes). One of the items I have on that list is “stuffed sweet potatoes (black beans, queso fresco, chipotle, etc.)” So clearly when I came across Nikki’s post for Southwestern stuffed sweet potatoes and realized someone had already done all the work for me, I added these to our menu.
I had high hopes for these, because I love all the ingredients. And despite those high hopes, these stuffed sweet potatoes actually surpassed my expectations. Even as recently as a couple of years ago, if you would have told me that sweet potatoes and black beans were a great combo, I probably would have given you the side eye. But, I’ve definitely come to find out it’s true.
These sweet potatoes are packed full of our favorite things – black beans, chipotles, spices, corn, and lots of cheese. I’ve come to adore sweet potatoes and butternut squash with some heat from peppers (forget that marshmallow and sugar nonsense), and the sweet and heat work so well in this dish. Plus, the beans provide protein and make these very filling.
I made the entire meal, from start to finish in the cast iron skillet (baked the potatoes, sauteed the corn and onions, put the stuffed potatoes back in there and stuck it under the broiler). About 30 seconds after I stuck these under the broiler, Zachary was running around, fell, and bit his lip. Of course, as I was tending to him, I kind of forgot about the potatoes so mine were a little….well done. Caramelized, if you will. Thankfully, they still tasted fabulous.
Meatless Monday: Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 1.5 cups corn (frozen corn is fine, just rinse or thaw and pat dry)
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- cilantro, to taste
- 1 oz. cream cheese (light is fine)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (light is fine)
- 1 to 3 chipotles in adobo, finely minced
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheddar and pepper jack)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet or large pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until fork tender. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Saute the corn in a dry heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium high heat. Sprinkle with salt, cumin, chili powder and oregano. Cook until the corn is roasted and browned (about 7 to 10 minutes). Transfer to a small bowl; set aside.
- To the skillet, add the canola oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until just tender. Remove to the bowl with the corn; add the black beans and as much cilantro as you wish to the bowl and lightly mix to combine all ingredients.
- When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half, lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the flesh, leaving about a 1/8" border in the skins, and place into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cream cheese, sour cream, chipotle pepper(s) and salt to the mixing bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mash with a potato masher to desired texture. Gently stir in the corn and black bean mixture.
- Preheat the broiler. Fill each potato skin with the potato-corn mixture, and top each with about 1.5 Tbsp. of cheese. Broil for 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and hot.
Who needs meat when you can have these?!
I’m a weird person and I actually like my cheese topped meals to be a little more on the “well done” side. Nothing better than brown crispy cheese! Which is probably a good thing, because I’ve done the same thing as you several times and forgotten about food that is under the broiler! They still look delicious and are on my to-do list!
For Monday dinner, YES. I am on a huge sweet potato kick, and it seems like you answered my prayers with this post. SO GOOD looking!
Oh yes, I remember out twitter convo about these and Zach’s lip. I’m so glad they were tasty (even though a tad bit extra caramelized) because they sound like they SHOULD be uber delicious. I’m a big fan of sweet+heat also. I just bought a big bag of sweet potatoes so this recipe really comes in handy.
These sound absolutely lovely!
I made these as well and posted on my blog about it last week. They are AWESOME!
I’m not a big fan of sweet potato, but these look delish! Definitely going to try these this week. I love your recipes!
Elvia, I wasn’t really a fan of sweet potatoes until pretty recently. Now I can’t get enough. 🙂
Love! Corn and sweet potatoes…mmm!!!
Mmm, one of my favorite flavor combos, chipotle and sweet potato! Actually, love all the ingredients in this dish. You’ve done it again Elly. I check your blog after lunch and yet I’m suddenly hungry again 🙂
I love when other people do the work for me! Your list-keeping sounds quite similar to mine 🙂
I need to get better at list taking, because ideas pop into my mind all of the time, then out they go, never to be found again. 😉 So, Evernote is a good tool? I recently downloaded it on my KindleFire, but haven’t used it yet.
Coincidentally, we are having these potatoes again tonight! I’m really glad they exceeded your expectations, Elly. Even if they did get a bit “caramel-y”. hehe! (And, your photo is GREAT!)
I love Evernote and am actually going to post something later this week about how I use it for meal planning, too. 🙂
Oh, good! Can’t wait to see! 🙂
These look so delicious and fabulous. What a brilliant idea! Bookmarked all the way. And, extra crunch is always good.
I will literally be making these for dinner tomorrow. The ingredients are like staples in my apartment. Cutting out some prep time though and roasting the potatoes while I get ready for work in the morning. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
This is comfort food to the highest level.
This recipe was awesome, Elly! Made it once for dinner this week and will be making it again for lunch this weekend. Thanks for another great one!
Hi –
I pinned this recipe several weeks ago & it has been repinned so many times. I am going to make them this week & can’t wait! Thanks for the amazing recipe.
Beth
This recipe was delicious.thank you so much
Glad you liked it, Shan!
We had these for dinner last night. They were really good. I only put in two chipotles and one was pretty small, it could have used a little more spice, also next time (and there will definately be a next time) I want to put more of the adobe sauce in it. I love the smokey taste of chipotle and adobe sauce with sweet potatoes.
Glad you liked them, Leah! We are big fans of adobo sauce too. These are also good topped with the avocado cream from this post. Mmm. http://ellysaysopa.com/2011/10/17/black-bean-patties-with-corn-relish-and-avocado-cream/
I’m really bad about commenting on people’s blogs when I love their stuff (my bad!) but I HAD to come here and say how awesome this stuff is!!! I tolerate baked sweet potatoes well enough, but I LOVE these! Thank you thank you thank you!
So glad you liked them, Rachel! It took me a while to come around to sweet potatoes, but these definitely did the trick!
Do you think I could prep these earlier in the day and stick them in the fridge so they are ready to just pop under the broiler when I get home from work?
Marcy, yes, as long as they are tightly wrapped. However, you may want to microwave them for just a little beforehand, otherwise the short time under the broiler will not warm them through.
I tried this recipe yesterday and oh my goodness. So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Happy to hear you liked it, Subrina!