In my “7 Budget Meals” post, I featured a Chili Cheese Jacket Potato. This Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potato is similar but just a bit more sophisticated. It’s packed with quinoa, onions, bell peppers, corn, black beans and just enough heat to keep things interesting. A layer of cheese and a couple minutes in the broiler sets this over the edge.

If you’ve been following along with my recipes for awhile now, you’ve probably noticed that I lean towards dishes that can be customized. This one is no exception! Sub the black beans for kidney beans or black eyed peas, or even get crazy and do Spanish rice instead of quinoa. You can easily load in more veggies, too—we stuck with red onion and green bell pepper, but you could add more peppers or veggies like spinach, squash or zucchini.

For the large dollop of greenery on top, I simply mashed a whole avocado with a spoonful of light sour cream, the juice from half a lemon and chopped cilantro. You can stick with sliced avocado if you prefer, or really go for it and make full-blown guacamole. Don’t forget your favorite salsa or hot sauce! I personally love Mrs. Renfro’s Black Bean Salsa + Garlic Salsa and Chipotle Tabasco.

INGREDIENTS

• Two sweet potatoes

• 1 red onion, chopped

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1 - 15 oz. can fiesta corn, drained & rinsed

• 1 - 15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 c. cooked quinoa

• 1 T. chili powder

• 1/2 T. cumin

• 1 large avocado

• Juice of half a lemon

• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro

• 2 T. light sour cream

• Low-fat Mexican cheese

• Salsa and/or hot sauce

• Olive oil + salt & pepper

STEPS

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash your potatoes and add them to a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook for about an hour and 20 minutes.*

*Lots of baked potato recipes will tell you to stab the potatoes with a fork a few times, but not this one! By keeping the skin intact, you’re locking the moisture inside the potato and ensuring you don’t end up with a dry glob. This also makes the skin crispier, too. This method does mean the potatoes have to cook longer, but just throw them in the oven as soon as you get home from work and you won’t even notice.

2) Once the potatoes have cooked for about an hour, go ahead and cook your quinoa according to package directions.

3) Chop the onions, bell peppers and garlic and sauté in a pan over medium-high heat with olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder until the onions are translucent, about five minutes.

4) Add the corn, beans and quinoa to the pan of veggies. Stir to combine, and cook for another couple of minutes.

5) Slice the potatoes in half and add a generous amount of the quinoa mixture. Top with a bit of low-fat Mexican cheese and cook in the broiler until crispy.

6) Mash the avocado with the sour cream, lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Top the potato with a mound of the smashed avocado and serve with hot sauce or salsa.