Picture this… 

It’s 4:30am. I’m at work walking around the produce department looking for a customer’s red onion, and then I see them: a pile of sweet potatoes under the gleaming sign “On sale!” Say no more, little sign.

Ah, potatoes. You can boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew… or you can bake them, scoop out their innards and refill the empty carcasses with a big pile of tasty mush! That’s right – we’re doing twice baked potatoes *reimagined*. I got the idea of these from my coworker, who was ranting last week about how good her latest creations were. My search to replicate this yummy content looked a little something like this:

Summary: I looked up “Mexican Sweet Potato Skins” and found a top rated recipe on “Pinch of Yum” (https://pinchofyum.com/healthy-mexican-sweet-potato-skins). 

The only thing I didn’t like about this recipe was that it didn’t teach me how to roast the potatoes. The internet overwhelmed me with choices, so, being the independent adult that I am, I called my mom. She told me to stab the sweet potatoes a few times with a fork and then bake them at 425°C for 40 to 50 minutes. At that point they still weren’t done, so I cut them in half, lathered some olive oil on the inside and baked them face down for another 15min. I took this time to roast the corn and then cook the chopped onion in the butter. 

When the potatoes came out, I scooped out their insides (leaving a bit on the skin to hold the shape) and mixed them into all the other ingredients. Roasted corn, black beans and the cooked onion went in first. I then chopped up two chipotle peppers and added them along with the cream cheese, sour cream and salt (I forgot to buy cilantro, but it’s not the end of the world). The end result was a giant bowl of mush, which I proceeded to pile into the empty potato skins. I covered those with some cheddar cheese, popped them back in the oven on broil, and boom! Five minutes later they were ready!

The insides were delicious on their own but likewise delectable as a dip, so mom and I ate them with hint of lime tortilla chips and some salsa and sour cream on the side.

And there we have it; the first recipe has been made and the kitchen is still intact! This was a great recipe for a weekday after work and an afternoon of studies. It took about an hour tops, and if I had planned it better I probably could have done all the prep work while the sweet potatoes were still baking. What’s more, the leftovers sustained me for two school lunches in the next couple days, which gave me a good opportunity to save some money and avoid buying food on campus. It’s simple but delicious, so if you pass any sweet potato sales, keep this recipe in mind!

All recipe credits to Lindsay on Pinch of Yum!

Photo credits to my phone and my right index finger