Eat: Healthy Sweet Potato Skins

By now, it is no secret that we love sweet potatoes at my house. It is also no secret that I love to find healthy recipes, too. This week these non-secrets come together with Healthy Sweet Potato Skins. My idea of potato skins usually involves several small potato halves filled with greasy yellow cheese and bacon bits. This recipe from Pinch of Yum shares very little with its traditional counterpart. In my onion, the “skins” are more like twice baked potatoes than anything else. Not that that is a bad thing. The dish features fewer but larger potatoes filled with chickpeas, sautéed spinach and shallots, sour cream, and mozzarella cheese. This delectable, savory dish can function as a lighter meal by itself or a great side to something a bit heavier.

TIME: 1:20 (includes inactive baking time)
YIELDS: 4-6 servings
MY SOUNDTRACK: Bon Iver

2-3 large sweet potatoes
1 ½ tablespoons of butter
1 fresh shallot, minced or ½ teaspoon dried
1 bag of fresh spinach
¼ - ½ cup of light sour cream
1 (15oz.) can of chickpeas, drained
shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 2 ounces of neufchâtel (light cream cheese)


1. Begin by baking the potatoes for 60+ minutes at 350°F. You will know they are done when they are tender and can be punctured with a fork. The more tender, the better. It is not a bad idea to do this step ahead of time since you can't know for certain how long it will take for the potatoes to bake.

2. Carefully cut the sweet potatoes in half and let them cool for 5-10 minutes. You can also cut off the hard nubby ends of the potatoes.

3. While the sweet potatoes are cooling, sauté the shallots in butter over medium heat for a few minutes or until translucent. Stir in the fresh spinach and heat for 2-3 minutes, until the spinach has cooked down . I think this is easier to do if you add small handfuls of spinach gradually. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.

4. Using a spoon, scrape the sweet potato out of its peel, leaving a thin shell (around ¼ inch, making sure it can stand up on its own). If the potatoes were thoroughly baked, this step should be a snap. In a large bowl, mix the newly removed sweet potato with the sour cream (and cream cheese, if using). Next, stir in the chickpeas, spinach mixture, salt and pepper.

5. Fill each half with the sweet potato mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Place in a greased 9x13” pan and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

For crispier texture: prior to filling the potato skins, drizzle each with oil and bake for about 5 minutes.

Eat: Sweet Potato Biscuits (or more accurately, cookies)

A delicious failure. That is how I would classify my attempt at sweet potato biscuits. Allow me to explain. After last week’s Thanksgiving festivities, I found myself with three lonely sweet potatoes. While searching for and weighing the options for said potatoes, I had a culinary flashback (complete with wiggly lines across the television screen in my head). Years ago, my mother-in-law tried a Paula Dean mix for sweet potato biscuits that were very, very good—I mean good enough that years later I am sitting here thinking about how good they were. It was only natural to assume that making similar biscuits from scratch could only be better. I was wrong. After laboring over the dough for a good while and waiting patiently for my creation to bake, I excitedly approached the oven with mitted hands. Yet disappointment fell upon me as I opened the oven door and my gaze beheld collapsed discs of orange dough. My should-have-been-fluffy biscuits turned out as flat as cookies. In fact, had I served them to anyone other than Matthew, I would have said they were cookies just to avoid the embarrassment. However, I must admit that my labor was not a complete waste as they still tasted like biscuits and were indeed sweet and yummy.

My research concluded that just about every recipe for sweet potato biscuits is basically the same. I decided to combine two recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Before you start smirking in that know-it-all way, that is not why this dish failed. I simply added a combination of spices I liked from the former to the latter, so I in no way altered the cooking science involved. I honestly don’t know what happened! I used the right proportions of ingredients, avoided too much hands-on contact with the dough (so as to not overheat it), and even chilled the little guys prior to baking.

The experience did not break my heart but I couldn’t help but think that had I just bought good ole Paula’s boxed mix I would have saved myself lots of time and mess. Plus my biscuits would have looked more like hockey pucks than pancakes! Here is the lowdown, if you would like to give it a try yourself. Perhaps you will fare better.

TIME: 45 minutes
YIELDS: Approximately 20 small biscuits
SOUNDTRACK: Local Christmas radio station

3 small sweet potatoes (1 lb)
2 ½ - 3 cups of all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ - 1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of ginger
1/8 teaspoon of cloves
8 tablespoons of chilled butter
1/4 cup milk


To prepare the sweet potatoes…

Quick & Dirty Method: prick the potato(es) a few times with a fork (to avoid a starchy explosion in your microwave) and wrap in a moist papertowel. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Check for tenderness and microwave additional minutes as needed. Mine needed a total of 10 minutes.

Domestic Goddess Method: prick the potato(es) a few times with a fork (to avoid a starchy explosion in your oven) and bake at 350°F for approximately 1 hour.

Once you have finished your chosen method, allow the potatoes to cool before handling them. Remove the skins and mash the potatoes to a fine puree. You can use a sieve, ricer, food processor, or just a handy fork coupled with strong wrists. You will have somewhere around 1 ¾ cup of puree.

To make the biscuits…

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the dry mix using a pastry cutter or a knife or your fingers. Do this until it resembles a coarse meal.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the sweet potato puree with milk. Add this to the flour blend and mix the dough just enough to stir it all together. If the dough has a sticky texture, add more flour as needed.

3. Place the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it a few times. Do not over handle the dough. Flatten it out to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut biscuits with a cookie cutter or small glass.

Note: You can make the biscuits as large or small as you like. I made mine small (2 inches) and the baking instructions below are for such a size. Be mindful of adjusting your baking time.

4. Place the on parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake for approximately 12 minutes or slightly brown.

These are best when served fresh and warm. The great thing about small biscuits is that you don’t feel quite as guilty eating several at a time!

Eat: Sweet Potato Cakes with Black Bean Salsa

This week’s recipe for Sweet Potato Cakes with Black Bean Salsa offers a unique blend of flavors and textures. The cakes themselves are subtly sweet and soft with a little kick from green onions. Add to that the cool smoothness of sour cream, zest of lime juice, crunch of raw onion, smack of cilantro, and heat of cayenne peppers. What does all that give you? Quite a culinary experience, that’s what! Preparing the sweet potatoes is the most time consuming aspect of this recipe but the salsa is incredibly easy and quick. So they balance each other out, right?

Although I found this dish while browsing Pinterest, it was adapted from the book Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and Jonathan Lovekin. The original recipe has a few variations from my own rendition. For example, I added some extra heat with dried cayenne pepper instead of chipotle in adobe. This was balanced by the sweet onion I utilized in place of the red onion originally prescribed. I say that as though it were part of my grand culinary scheme, but I just wanted to use ingredients that I already had waiting for me in my cupboard. The most important difference to note is that this is actually a recipe for appetizers: little bitty cute potato cakes ready to be displayed on your finest silver platter. Since I knew my husband and I would consume everything ourselves, I opted to save time by making larger (and therefore fewer) cakes with bigger portions of sour cream and salsa. As always, you are welcome to adjust the dish according to your own edible preferences.

TIME: 1 hour
YIELDS: up to 34 cakes (if using smallest portions)
MY SOUNDTRACK: Brahms' cello sonatas

Sweet Potato Cakes…


2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 green onions, both white and green parts, finely chopped
4-6 tablespoons oil (I used vegetable, but any kind is fine)
4-6 tablespoons butter

1. Begin by steaming the sweet potato chunks for 15-20 minutes. As odd as this may sound, this was my first time really steaming vegetables without using my microwave or an electric steamer. I'm pleased to report it is a snap. You simply fill a pot with approximately 1 inch of water and then place a "steamer basket" or colander atop the water. Bring to a boil, fill the steamer with your raw vegetables (check to make sure they are not touching the water), and cover. You can check the progress by testing a potato chunk with a fork; if it smooshes easily you are good to go.

Tip: I recommend making the salsa while the potatoes are steaming. You can also prepare the other ingredients for the cakes.

2. Transfer the potatoes to a colander or strainer over the sink and allow to dry thoroughly. Once the sweet potato chunks are cooked and dried, place them in a large mixing bowl. Mash them with a fork or potato masher (if you ever thought to purchase such a thing).

3. Stir in the flour, green onions, salt, and pepper. Resist the urge to use a food processor or else the sweet potato mixture might get gummy. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Note: the mixture should be sticky but not wet; add more flour if needed.

4. In a non-stick skillet, heat two tablespoons of oil and/or two tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Form round, flat cakes from about two tablespoons of batter per cake (or more if making larger cakes like I did), and fry four or five at a time for three minutes per side until golden. Transfer finished cakes to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain and cool. Add more oil and butter to pan between batches as needed, and continue frying a few cakes at a time until all are ready for their toppings.

Black Bean Salsa…

16 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 dried cayenne peppers, chopped
1 small bell pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup finely minced onion (red or yellow)
¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
¼ teaspoon salt

1. Combine all of the salsa ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.

2. Taste for heat and seasoning, adding more peppers and/or salt as desired.

This salsa can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

To assemble…

Place sweet potato cakes on a serving platter and add a small dollop of sour cream to each. Top sour cream with a small spoonful of black bean salsa.