spicy mexican sweet potatoes

Sometimes when Joe is traveling for work, I go crazy and eat every delicious thing I can find.

And by "delicious thing," I mean every food he won't allow me to regularly incorporate into our meals.

Like avocado.

Or black beans.

Or carmelized onions.

Or sour cream.

The list goes on and on.

These things aren't allowed in our regularly scheduled dinner rotation because Joe allegedly doesn't like them.

Which is why my life mission is to find ways to trick him into eating said foods.

I'm sorry, but if I haven't seen you try it, I'm not going to believe you don't like it.

That's just how it is.

Luckily for him, he was out of town when I found the recipe for these babies.

Not so lucky for him, I'm now obsessed with them.

Obsessed, as in I've eaten them for dinner and two lunches just this week.

That's three meals in one week, people.

That's how good these are.

recipe adapted via

Things you'll need:

3 medium-sized sweet potatoes

2 ears of fresh sweet corn

1 can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp butter

1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped

4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, pureed in a food processor

1 oz light cream cheese

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

shredded cheese {I used a hot pepper blend, but Colby Jack, Monterey, Pepperjack, Cheddar...you name it, it will work!}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes, until tender and easily poked with a fork.

While potatoes are baking, use a sharp knife and remove corn from the ears.

Add to a hot skillet {with no butter or oil!} and roast for 10 minutes or so, turning every 3-4 minutes until lightly browned.

Put roasted corn in a bowl with black beans.

Saute chopped onion in butter until soft and translucent, and add to corn/bean mixture.

Set aside.

Once potatoes have cooled for 5-10 minutes, scoop out the flesh and add it to a mixing bowl with cream cheese, sour cream, pureed chipotle peppers, and salt.

{Side note: feel free to use less chipotle peppers if you want it to be less spicy!}

I like to leave a thin layer of potato inside the skin so they're easier to handle.

Fold in corn, black beans, onions, and cilantro.

Spoon mixture into potato skins.

Don't be afraid to pile it on!

You will definitely have some mix leftover, but that's okay because it's really delicious on it's own.

Now, do the only thing that could make this dish any better than it already is.

Sprinkle on your cheese of choice.

Pop them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!

This recipe made six potato skins.

I had two for dinner, then wrapped each of the leftovers individually in foil and refrigerated them.

These hold up incredibly well and taste as good the next day as they do fresh.

Throw them in the microwave for two and a half minutes, and you have a delicious lunch the next day!

And the day after that...

The best part is that each potato skin rings in at right under 200 calories.

And they are so filling!

Also, the mixture of sweet and spicy is spot on.

I've never been big on mixing the two, but this just feels and tastes right.

These would be great to make during meal prep for the week, if you're into that kind of thing.

I'm more of a prep-the-night-before kind of girl, but one day I'll do a whole week of prepping.

One day.

How's your week going?

Besides being home alone and eating multiple sweet potatoes, mine has been pretty uneventful.

Except today, when I made the most exciting impulse buy ever.

picture via

Who says summer is almost over?

Not this girl!