Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (doing the creamy!)

Apr 29

Apr 29 Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (doing the creamy!)

I went to boarding school in the UK and a a result, one of my favourite comfort foods are baked potatoes. Yes, I love them! But sometimes you want to make a change to baked potatoes with beans and cheese...

If you want something simple and tasty, you should definitely try these! They are not too challenging to make and include a good squeeze of lemon juice to cut the sweetness of the potato and the saltiness of the cheddar cheese. They can be eaten on their own or with a small salad on the side, whichever you like! I would count one potato (two halves) per person.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

one sweet potato per person
350g of shredded chicken whites
1 red bell pepper, cubed
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 lime
a good handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
a small tub of cream cheese (Philadelphia cheese)
some smoked paprika powder
a cup of grated cheddar
a tsp of BBQ sauce

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

Start by preparing the potatoes. You can wash them or brush them but leave the peel on. Cut them in half lengthways and place them in a grease oven dish, skin side up. Rub some more olive oil unto the skin after having pricked some holes in the skin with a fork or a knife. Then rub some salt into the skin and pop them in a pre-heated oven at 200°C. Leave them to cook for 30-40 minutes, or until they are soft.
While the potatoes are cooking, soften the onions with the garlic in a pan with some olive oil and add the cubed bell pepper. Allow to cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat. When done, place the in a large bowl and set aside.

Take the chicken whites and shred apart with two forks, exactly as I did for my chicken salad recipe.

Add these to the bowl with the cooked bell peppers. At this point you can add the cream cheese and BBQ sauce to the bowl and thoroughly mix everything together. Make sure the cheese is spread evenly. Season with some salt and pepper and add a couple of good shakes of powdered smoked paprika (sweet potatoes and smoked paprika go well together according to a co-blogger of mine, Princess Misia ;) ). Again, mix it all through and leave to the side.

When the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven.

Once they are cool enough to handle grab a small bowl and one of the potatoes. Take the flesh away from the potato peel without ripping it and place it in the bowl. Add a good spoonful of chicken mix en crush it all together with a fork. Then replace the peel skin side down into the oven dish and fill it with the mixture.
Do this for all the potatoes.

The reason I did each of them separately allows for the potato/chicken ratio to be more or less equal.

When all the potato skins have been refilled and replaced in the oven dish, spinkle over the grated cheese. Don't be stingy with the cheese! Add as much as possible, this is good stuff and gives an essential taste to the dish!

Place it all again in the oven until the cheese has melted and slightly browned.
When done, sprinkle some coriander and some more smoked paprika and most important of all, give each potato half a good squeeze of lime juice! You are now ready to eat :)

Enjoy this dish, it brings out may different flavours, has a creamy texture and has a nice balance between salty, sweet and acidic.