Remember when I said my new years resolution was to eat more sweet potatoes in my post for Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup ?! And I wasn’t sure why, I just felt like my body needed it. I’m thinking this whole listen to your body and eat accordingly thing is legit, because I recently went to the eye doctor, assuming my prescription had changed, but it turns out I’ve actually lost a significant amount of vision in my left eye! And no prescription change will fix it! He had no explanation for it and booked me in with a specialist, but that’s not for another 3 months!
I just happened to have my first ever appointment with a naturopath a few days after this eye appointment, so I asked her what she thought. She suggested I try to raise my ridiculously low blood pressure, eat as much vitamin A as possible, and start taking vitamin D supplements. Done and Done. That sounds way better than the eye surgery the internet is suggesting I might need. Might as well try the natural route first, right!?
So I’m amping up my Vitamin A game by eating sweet potatoes and carrots every day, and also adding pumpkin to my morning smoothies. These orange veggies have tons of Vitamin A. Plus, they’re so freakin good, so it’s really not a big issue with me! The thing to remember with Vitamin A is that it’s one of the fat soluble vitamins, meaning you gotta eat some fat with it in order for your body to absorb it most efficiently. Therefore, be sure to top these super low-fat boats with some diced avocado!
I’ll keep ya posted on the eye progress, but for now, get ready for some damn good sweet potato recipes, because if I’m eating them every day, they better be delicious!
These boats get crazy good with this Cilantro Sauce. I’m obsessed and have been using the leftovers as a dip for carrots (obvi) and tortilla chips, and it makes the most delicious addition to sandwiches and wraps. It would also be a great dressing for a Mexican salad! If you like cilantro, this is your sauce. So yum!
Thanks for reading, peeps! Enjoy!
| Mexican Sweet Potato Boats with Cilantro Sauce | Print |
- 2 small-medium sweet potatoes
- 1 can black beans
- ½ a white onion, diced, plus more for garnish
- ½ a jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, diced, plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, to taste
- ½ cup corn kernels
- 3 cups packed baby spinach leaves
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cumin
- avocado, cilantro sauce (recipe link below), and green onions, to garnish
- Cook sweet potatoes. I like to bake them in a glass baking dish with ¼ inch of water, covered tightly with tin foil for one hour at 375 degrees fahrenheit. But if you have a go-to method, feel free. Just make sure they are cooked completely, which may very depending on how big your potatoes are. Let them sit for 30 minutes until they are cool enough to handle, but still hot!
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prep your beans and spinach.
- Place the entire can of undrained beans in a small sauce pan. Add the diced onion and jalapeño, water, and salt. Bring to a low simmer and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the corn to the beans and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roughly chop the fresh spinach and place in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Let this wilt, stirring to encourage wilting. This should only take about 5 minutes, max. Remove from heat and set aside until your ready to stuff the sweet potatoes.
- To prep the potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and then use a small spoon to gently scrape out the centre, as shown in the pictures.
- Top each potato half with 2-3 tablespoons of spinach, and 2-3 tablespoons of beans.
- Top with extra white onion, jalapeño, green onions, and avocado.
- Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of cilantro sauce. Link to cilantro sauce recipe below!
Cilantro Sauce recipe can be found Here!
