Mexican Sweet Potato Skins

Here's another recipe from my Cinco de Mayo celebration. Well it wasn't really a celebration. It was basically me making guacamole and these Mexican sweet potatoes on Seis de Mayo.  I had full intentions of making these Mexican dishes on Cinco de Mayo but had some last minute house guests in town for the Broad Street Run (a very popular 10 mile run down Broad Street, Philadelphia). Needless to say, these runners (cousins) needed to 'carb up' on Cinco de Mayo so these Mexican dishes were pushed a day back which I didn't mind because it meant more for me (stingy much?)!

I found these while browsing the Pinterest (I seem to be finding a lot there these days)! Once I saw it, I knew I had to make it to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! I love sweet potatoes & I love Mexican so this is the perfect combination for me. These sweet potato skins were definitely a winner! Unfortunately, I couldn't get a somewhat appetizing photo to do these sweet potato skins justice! You're just going to have to take my word for it OR hop on over to Pinch of Yum and take a look at her gorgeous photos of these Mexican potato skins! I promise you'll enjoy these!!

Mexican Sweet Potato Skins

From Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes
1 can corn, rinsed and patted dry
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-4 canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, minced or pureed
1 ounce light cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon salt (+ more to taste)
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons shredded cheese (Pepperjack, Cheddar, Colby Jack… anything will work)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes.
While sweet potatoes are baking, place corn in a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with no butter or oil. Sprinkle with salt and other Mexican seasoning (as much as you want). Do not stir! Let corn roast for several minutes before stirring. Let it roast for a few more minutes before stirring again. Continue this for about 10 minutes, until corn is browned and roasted on the outside. Set aside in a small bowl with the black beans.
Saute the onion in the butter over medium heat until soft and translucent. Set aside.
Remove sweet potatoes from the oven when fork-tender. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut the sweet potatoes in half. Scrape the flesh of the sweet potatoes out, leaving the skins intact. Sometimes leaving a thin layer of potato inside of the skins helps them hold together better.
Mix the flesh of the sweet potatoes with the cream cheese, sour cream, chipotle peppers, and salt. You can use a mixer or just a spoon, depending on how soft the potatoes are. When well-mixed, gently stir in the black beans, roasted corn, sauteed onions, and cilantro.
Scoop the filling into the skins and top each with 1 tablespoon shredded cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

I had intentions of making my own sweet potato gnocchi, butternut squash ravioli or pumpkin ravioli this year but for some reason I just didn't get to it. While I was grocery shopping yesterday, I noticed these yummy sweet potato gnocchi and thought to myself..."Thank you, Whole Foods!" It was a nice little shortcut and made dinner really simple and yummy! I've been wanting to make a brown butter sage sauce for a while. I did a quick Google search and found this great recipe from Giada. It pairs so nicely with winter squash and sweet/savory pastas like these gnocchi; however, I think it would go really well with any pasta. It would also make a nice sauce on roasted root vegetables...I'm think I'll be making that soon! Talk about a quick dinner!!

 

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) 

2 tablespoons torn fresh sage leaves 

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped 

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste 

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add the sage and walnuts and let cook until the butter starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and season with salt, and pepper. Pour over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Potato Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup

Sounds like a lot, right? I couldn't make up my mind...do I want potato soup or broccoli soup so after getting a little inspiration from a couple of food blogs and my cookbooks I decided to go for both potato & broccoli (you know I was using the cheese no matter what the main ingredient was).

This soup came together rather quickly and I was completely satisfied with my decision to use both potato & broccoli. The potato really helped with the overall consistency of the soup; made it more creamy (only had to used 1 tablespoon of skim milk). Spring is right around the corner so I really have to make the most of my winter comfort foods. I think I'll try this again in the near future with potato and cauliflower. I'll keep you posted! I had full intentions of making cheesy croutons for the top of the soup but forgot to get a loaf of Italian bread at the store, silly me!

I can't take credit for this soup but I don't really know who to give credit to. I used Martha, Food Network & Tastespotting to come to a final recipe for this soup.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (you can use olive oil if you're trying to be a little bit healthier)

1 medium size yellow onion

3 small heads of broccoli, chopped

2 medium size Idaho potatoes, cut into small pieces

4 cups of chicken broth (vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian friendly)

1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1-2 tablespoons of skim milk (you can add more or less depending on you preference)

salt & pepper

In a dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent (about 8 mins). Do not burn the onion! Add broccoli, potatoes, chicken broth, & a dash of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are fork tender (about 15-20 mins). Once vegetables are tender transfer to a blender and puree in batches (an immersion blender would do the trick too). Return puree to dutch oven over low heat. Stir in cheese, milk & salt/pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

I'm so happy I found this recipe for turkey burgers. It's much better and more flavorful than the old recipe I had. I plan on trying some of Rachel Ray's fun burger recipes this summer too. I'll keep you posted.

This turkey burger is so yummy even Liz the typical "beef only girl" loves it!

You can make them as sliders and serve at a party or make them big like I do. Whatever you prefer. You can find the turkey burger recipe here.

I made some sweet potato fries for the side. It was a very satisfying meal. You can serve the sweet potato fries with brown sugar/butter, honey, ketchup, or just eat them plain. You can find the sweet potato fries recipe here. (To keep the kitchen cool this summer you can grill up the sweet potato fries)