Here’s a creative and delicious recipe for you!  I had a good friend who turned me on to these and I had a blast making them over to suit a better macronutrient/nutritional balance.    The result was absolutely delicious.  The filling has just enough spice, just enough smokiness, and it tastes creamy and sweet too.  The recipe calls for both corn and black beans, but you can totally use all corn or all black beans if that’s what you have on hand or if that’s what you prefer.  I think next time (there is TOTALLY going to be a next time!) I’ll just use all black beans because I love black beans . . . especially when paired with sweet potatoes.

These delicious sweet potatoes are packed with nutrition and the filling is, well . . . filling!  The serving size is just one of these babies, and it was enough for me.  We ate these with a nice little side salad and it was a fabulous meal.  If you like sweet potatoes and you like Mexican food, then you’re going to LOVE these!

P.S.  These call for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. You can find these on the Mexican isle in your grocery store.  If you want other recipes to help use them up, you might want to try this, this, and this.

Stuffed Mexican Sweet Potato Skins
Adapted by Pinch of Yum   

 2 medium sweet potatoes
1/3 cup frozen corn, thawed and patted dry
1/3 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced or pureed
1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese (I used 2%)
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, plain
1/2 teaspoon salt (+ more to taste)
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1/4  cup cilantro, roughly chopped
10 ounces cooked & shredded chicken breast
4 tablespoons reduced fat shredded cheese (I used part skim Mozzarella)

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. 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.

Sauté the onion in the olive oil 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 out of three of the halves of sweet potatoes, leaving the skins intact. Scrape the flesh out of the remaining sweet potato half, but reserve for another use (you won’t be using it here, so save it for your lunch tomorrow).  Sometimes leaving a thin layer of potato inside of the skins helps them hold together better.

Place the flesh of the three halves of sweet potatoes with the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, chipotle peppers, taco seasoning and salt in a food processor (or blender).  Process until well-mixed and fairly smooth/creamy and then gently stir in the black beans, roasted corn, sautéed onions, chicken, 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.  (If your filling has cooled a bit, you may want to put the potatoes back in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees, then top with cheese and broil.)

Serves 4.

Nutritional Information (Per Serving = 1 Filled Potato Skin)
Calories:  251.7
Protein:  24.8g
Carbs:  31.6g
Fat:  3.8g (2g = Sat.)
Fiber:  5.1g
Sugars:  10.1g