Who doesn’t love a nice stuffed potato? Although a tasty cheesy, bacon, and sour cream smothered baked potato is a classic go to dish, it is not always a great for the healthy diet you are working on. But with a few substitutions you can elevate to something new and exciting.
Sweet potatoes are notoriously stuffed with butter and brown sugar (at least if you’re a true southerner!). But with this recipe we can pile it full with flavorful vegetables and ground beef to make it an ultimate week night dinner favorite.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed and washed
- 4 medium carrots, 2 roughly chopped and 2 shredded
- 1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 1 plum tomato, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
DIRECTIONS
Poke each sweet potato a few times and microwave until fork tender, about 10 minutes, rotating about halfway through. Set aside and keep warm.
Combine the chopped carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, cayenne and a few grinds of black pepper in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and cook, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, until the water evaporates, about 1 minute. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking it up into smaller chunks, until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Split the potatoes in half, scoop out some of the warm flesh and add it to the beef mixture; stir to combine. Divide the potato halves among four plates and generously fill each half with the beef-potato mixture. Toss the shredded carrots with the cilantro, the remaining 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Divide the carrot slaw among the four plates.
Nutritional Analysis Per Serving
Calories 360 calorie | Total Fat 16 grams | Saturated Fat 4.5 grams
Cholesterol 55 milligrams | Sodium 770 milligrams | Carbohydrates 34 grams
Dietary Fiber 6 grams | Protein 20 grams |Sugar 9 grams