HEALTHY SWEET POTATO SKINS

These sweet potato skins! They’re baaaaack!

These little guys were my first “viral” recipe originally published in October of 2011 – and today, April 25th, 2015, I’m bringing them back to life and dying with food happiness all over again. It’s the circle of food life.

These healthy sweet potato skins are one of my all-time blog favorites – and they’re a reader favorite, too!

They’re stuffed with a creamy sweet potato shallot filling with spinach and chickpeas to bump up the yummy health factor and then they are topped with a tiny bit of melty cheese and baked to sweet potato skin perfection.

Yeah – theeeeese are goooood.

In case you love throwbacks, this is how they looked originally:

Do you know that I’ve actually never done this until now? Today is the first time I’m going back to an older post and re-shooting the pictures and re-sharing it fresh on the blog.

I am doing this because a) it’s nice to update the images for a recipe with something that’s more “now”, and b) it’s also really awesome to get some of my all-time favorite and most popular posts back to the front of the blog, and c) it gives me an excuse to make an old favorite again. I mean, come on. If nothing else, there’s that.

I updated the pictures, but I decided not doing anything with my old writing from the original post — I’ll just put a line in so you know when Young Me takes over the writing. You might actually just be able to tell.

Haha / yikes.

Old stuff starts now.

Well, it happened.

I bought my first pair of jeggings.

(jeans+leggings= superstretchy skinny jeans that are questionable for people older than 19)

As a… 25 year old, I was skeptical. But unlike my sophisticated-looking pencil skirt that I never get around to wearing, I have a feeling that these $12.99 jeggings are going to be my new BFF. My boots fit over them like a dream, and I have an excuse to buy more long sweaters that feel like pajamas.

I even got a compliment from one of my fourth graders.

Although maybe that isn’t such a good thing.

But whether you think jeggings are good or evil, there is no debating that these healthy sweet potato skins are a veryveryvery good thing.

It’s like combining the best of all superfoods – sweet potatoes and spinach, obvs. – and making it into something that’s warm and cozy and filling and not a salad. Salads are hibernating right now.

PS. Did I mention that your future jeggings will fit perfectly after eating these toasty cheese boats? Yes. Sometimes it happens, and this is one of those times. We must celebrate with a delicious dinner and a new pair of jeggings.

HEALTHY SWEET POTATO SKINS

Author: Pinch of Yum

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 2-3

INGREDIENTS

2 medium or large sweet potatoes
1½ tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
1 bag fresh baby spinach
¼ cup light sour cream
2 ounces light cream cheese
1 cup chickpeas
¼ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Bake sweet potatoes at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
Cut sweet potatoes in half and let cool for 5-10 minutes. While sweet potatoes are cooling, saute the shallots with the butter over medium heat until translucent. Add fresh spinach and heat for 2-3 minutes, until spinach has cooked down. Set aside.
Scrape the sweet potato out of the peel, leaving a thin layer inside with the skin so that it can stand up on its own. Mash the sweet potato with the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in chickpeas, spinach, and plenty of salt and pepper.
Coat potato skins with a drizzle of oil and bake for about 5 minutes to get a crispier outside. Remove from oven and fill each skin with the sweet potato mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake again for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through.

NOTES

I’ve also topped these with bacon!

For less stringy, more melty cheese, try Gouda!