Sweet Potato Boats with Avocado Salad - $$

Sweet potato season is here!  In the fall they are easy to turn to for a healthy comfort food.  For me sweet potatoes are a standard during the holidays and have recently become a staple in my kitchen. They also make a great snack by themselves. Check out my chip recipe here.  Or baked – cut one in half and pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes and then add a little butter. Easy. The sweet potato boat improves upon this 10-fold. This recipe takes one of my favorite healthy snacks to a new level – the dinner table! You could eat these by themselves for lunch or as a side with dinner (or I’ve eaten a couple “boats” as my dinner on a night I’m not super hungry).

High in protein and healthy fats with the use of avocados and chickpeas, this is a combo to stay on a healthy track. Topped with dill and lemon it’s full of flavor and will fill you up. Stay tuned I’m hoping to create a sauce to top these off with a bang soon.

Price – The sweet potatoes I bought were about $1.30 per lb. The avocados are usually $1 each and cherry tomatoes about $3 a box. The rest of the ingredients are meager in price. So you should be able to make this dish for a family (this recipe makes for 4-6 people) under $10. If you are making just one (which I've done) even cheaper.

Ingredients:

3 Sweet Potatoes, cut in halves down the middle

2 Avocados, chopped

1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in halves

1 can Chickpeas

1 Tbsp. EVOO

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. Dill (approximate)

2 tsp. Lemon Juice (approximate)

Recipe:

Serving Size 4-6 people

Wash and cut the sweet potatoes in half (length wise). Place on greased baking pan and place in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. While they are cooking prepare the guacamole salad. Slice avocados into small pieces. Slice cherry tomatoes into halves. In a large skillet add extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, and then add avocados, tomatoes, and chickpeas to skillet. Turn the stove top heat on medium, just enough to lightly sizzle the ingredients, for about 10 minutes. When complete, if you’re still waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish baking, turn the skillet on low to keep warm. Once the sweet potatoes are done, hollow about two spoon-fulls of each potato - make sure not to cut out the center completely.  Add the excess sweet potato to the skillet and mix together. Scoop out the skillet mixture and fill each hollowed out sweet potato. Once each potato is filled, sprinkle dill and lemon juice to the top of each. 

Avocado salad on the skillet. Let the flavors marinade on low heat for a while if you are still waiting on the oven to ding.

Try and find round potatoes so you can slice them in even halves. 

Hollow out the potatoes a bit, but not completely.

Presto!