Alaska News

Alaska From Scratch: Baked sweet potatoes stuffed with chipotle black bean and corn salad

The colors of autumn have been emerging steadily this week, ushering in one of my favorite times of the year. To celebrate, I felt compelled to offer up something equally colorful and fall-forward for your weekly menu.

This dish was inspired by a captivating roasted sweet potato and black bean salad recipe from my sweet Oregon-based food blogging pal, Karista's Kitchen (karistaskitchen.com). But rather than roasting the sweet potatoes, I baked them and then stuffed them with a quick salad made up of some of my absolute favorite ingredients, including black beans, corn and cilantro.

Then I whipped up a very simple and delicious vinaigrette with lime juice, lime zest, honey and chipotle and poured it over the whole thing. It was easily one of freshest, tastiest lunches I've enjoyed in a long time -- a little smoky, a little spicy, a little sweet. It would also make a brilliant light dinner or side dish (with some grilled chicken or fish, perhaps?).

Heck, you could even fry an egg and put it on top and eat it for breakfast. I'm not even kidding. Also, if you want to take a shortcut and bake your potatoes in the microwave, this all comes together in about 10 minutes.

Sweet potatoes stuffed with chipotle black bean and corn salad

Serves 4

4 small sweet potatoes or yams, baked
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn*
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
For the vinaigrette:
2 limes, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. In a bowl, add the black beans, corn, onions and cilantro. Stir to combine. In a smaller bowl, mix together the lime zest and juice, oil, honey, adobo, salt and pepper. Pour over the black bean mixture and toss to combine. Slice open the baked sweet potatoes. Stuff potatoes with the chipotle black bean and corn salad. Serve.

*Fresh corn is best, but when out of season, frozen (thawed and cooked) or canned is fine. If using canned, be sure to rinse and drain thoroughly.

Maya Evoy lives in Nikiski and blogs about food at alaskafromscratch.com. Have a food question or recipe request? Email maya@alaskafromscratch.com and your inquiry may appear in a future column.

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