Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes! I didn't used to, but I explained all of that in THIS post. At the market I can get them for 59 cents per pound (!). They are cheap, delicious and nutritious, so they have been appearing on our menu quite frequently for the past year. Any meal any day.

Sweet potatoes do a great job at being a side dish. Sweet potato fries, diced and roasted, mashed sweet potatoes, and the list goes on. But in this case they are the star of the show. 

This meal is vegetarian (vegan if  you leave off the cheese and use coconut oil for sauteing) but delicious and filling. You could add some taco meat to this if you so desired, but I find that unnecessary. It is tasty just like this and leaving off the meat also makes it cheaper. Win!

The sweet potatoes I usually buy are ginormous and I can't usually finish this meal, but this is one of those things that I don't want to stop eating...And sometimes I just don't until every last bite is gone.

Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1 cup black beans (I use dry beans so that's equal to 1/3 cup before soaking and boiling)
1 cup corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
A couple shakes of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons butter, coconut oil, or cooking oil of choice
salt to taste
salsa
Other toppings if desired: Avocado, sour cream, green onions, etc.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven until fork tender, about an hour for large sweet potatoes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter or oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Then add the black beans, corn, and the spices. Heat until warm and then remove from the heat.

When the sweet potatoes are tender, cut them in half and mash up the sweet potato in the skin a little bit with a fork while adding a little butter to each side. Top with cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes for the cheese to melt. Serve with salsa and any other desired toppings.