Southwestern Sweet Potatoes

More often than not, an Austin moving story involves someone coming to town, not leaving.  So when one of your closest friends is part of the uber small leaving percentage, it’s a darn right bummer.  Jodie, who I’ve had some of my favorite Austin adventures with, hit the road last week.  Thankfully we’ve had a steady stream of texts since she crossed the Texas border.  Texts that have gone a little something like…  Boys, boys, inspiration for this recipe, boys.  Things like this make me question my twenty-nine-year-old-ness…

The southwestern sweet potatoes she suggested sounded like an awesomely flavorful way to make a meal out of a potato.  And even more importantly, super stuffed potatoes would be a perfect way to make use of the newest additions to my ever-expanding dish collection.

FoodFash Southwestern Sweet Potatoes (yields 3 potatoes)

3 sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 serrano pepper, gutted and chopped

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Bake sweet potatoes in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Heat olive oil over medium high heat and add chopped onions and peppers.  Stir in salt and cumin.  When onions are transparent, add black beans and cook for 5 more minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Slice the top of each sweet potato in half and use a spoon to remove the insides of the potato from the skin.  Place all of the insides in a bowl and mix with sour cream until blended and smooth.  Fold in black bean mix and then cilantro.  Stuff each potato skin with an equal part of the sweet potato mixture and enjoy!

Who would have ever thought that sweet potatoes and black beans could be so tasty together?  Surely not I.  This is definitely a dish I’ll make on the regular.  Thanks a million Jodie!!