Spicy Beans on Baked Sweet Potato: Frugal & Filling

A sweet potato is a nourishing gift from the ground. Baked until soft and steaming, they melt in your mouth like candy floss. Except they are far more nutritious than candy. Low on the glycemic index (17), it ranks as a healthy, high-fibre carbohydrate exceptionally high in Vitamin A and offer 65% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C.

Where a sweet potato can lead you astray is how you cook and dress it. Load up on butter or fry it in oil to make fries and you start to defile the tuber’s virtues.

Spicy Beans on Baked Sweet Potato

I found this recipe for Spicy Beans on Baked Sweet Potato in the Murdock Books Australia cookbook Homestyle: Low-Fat. It is essentially a vegetarian chilli dish served atop half a large baked sweet potato and garnished with a dollop of sour cream and a light grating of cheddar cheese.

Menu Planning — Week of January 27, 2013

So many recipes to try . . . only one eater in the household. Don’t let that stop you from making yourself wonderful meals. Both January and February’s issues of Chatelaine and Canadian Living magazines have recipes I am keen to try. This coming week, the Savvy Single Kitchen will try the following recipes:

Winter sky — Ottawa, Canada

Modern Beef Stroganoff [Chatelaine, February 2013, page 128]

While taking inventory of the freezer last week, I’d found half of the roast I made in November (Piquant Dijon – Herb Crusted Sirloin Tip Beef Roast). I’d cooked it rare, so instead of buying a pound of fast-fry beef strips for the stroganoff, I’ll slice the thawed, left-over roast into thin strips.

Sofrito Baked Shrimp [Canadian Living February 2012, page 118]

Spicy Beans on Baked Sweet Potato [Homestyle Low-fat, page 199]

. . . and I’m on the hunt for a new vegetarian dish I can take to an annual skating party and potluck. It could also be a dessert. I’m keen to try Chatelaine’s Fresh Veggie Lasagna (ricotta cheese, navy beans, tomatoes and Swiss chard), although it might not be the easiest dish to eat off one’s lap. A savoury, rich vegetable Quiche might do, if it could be sliced into thin wedges for the buffet table.

If I get a hankering for soup again, I am leaning toward a Smoked-Fish Chowder. What are you planning to put on your plate this week?