In case you couldn’t already tell, I’m a huge fan of sweet potatoes. Not only are they delicious in their own right, but they’re incredibly packed with vitamin A, which always seems to help out my skin. I used to have them almost every morning in my favorite maple mashed form. I’ve fallen in love with breakfast smoothies, however, so I started looking for more quick, savory recipes to put my beloved sweet potatoes in.

That’s when I came across the “twice baked sweet potato” concept, and now I’ve come up with a new favorite lunch that only takes 15 minutes or less to make. And it tastes amazingly gourmet! The beauty of the recipe is that what you add in can be varied a lot to your preferences or what you have on hand; the amounts below are just my favorite version. You could make it sweet, italian style, asian style, or tex-mex style like I did. You can add in protein sources like beans, or throw in all sorts of veggies. The options are endless!

Eating them open face sandwich style also makes it a fun meal; I personally love the skins, and they’re really good for you!

Makes 1 serving. Calories: ~250

Ingredients

1 medium (~5″ length, 2″ diameter) or 1/2 large sweet potato with skin

1/3 medium white onion

1 big leaf of kale (optional)

1/4 cup vegan cheddar, chopped or shredded

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp chipotle powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Remove the eyes and blemishes from the skin, and bake it. You can bake it in the oven, but I prefer to use the microwave method for speed: pierce the potato on all sides with a fork or knife, set on a paper towel, and microwave for about 4 minutes, or until tender. (Giant potatoes like the one in my photo may take up to 8 minutes.) You may want to flip midway.

2. While it’s baking, saute the onions and kale over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the kale is tender. Remove from heat, and add in the cheese, chipotle powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.

3. Once the sweet potato is tender, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out enough of the flesh to leave a “rind” of ~1/2 inch. (See third picture below.) Mash the scooped out flesh, and mix it with the onion-cheese mixture until fully combined.

4. Scoop the entire mixture back into the potato-skin shells, and microwave until the cheese is melted and everything is fully heated.

5. Eat it open-face sandwich style, or with a fork and knife.

And enjoy your vitamin A packed meal!

Method photos (Note that I cut my potato in half first because it was giant.)

Thanks for reading!

Michelle