How to Make a Salt-Baked Sweet Potato a Complete Meal!

I love baked potatoes. I love stuffed baked potatoes. Using a sweet potato for my potato choice and then stuffing it? Well now you’re on to something! The only problem with eating a stuffed baked sweet or white potato is that it can become a meal in itself, so if you pair it with a steak and another vegetable or salad, you are seriously overeating. I know, that’s what you get at a restaurant so it must be a normal portion, right? Wrong…it is way too much food for one meal. Easily solved by making your stuffed potato the center of your meal by rendering it interesting and diverse. That’s what I did here with my Salt-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potato!

Start with a perfect, farm fresh big sweet potato. Scrub it and prick it with a fork all over. Then coat it with Kosher salt. This is a restaurant trick because the salt casing creates a fluffier inside to the potato and if you’re salt adverse, you can knock most of it off before you eat it anyway. Place on a sheet pan and bake it in the oven until it is nice and tender on the inside. Take that beautiful potato out of the oven, slice it lengthwise on one side and squeeze it ever so gently to open it up and showcase the beautiful potato inside. Fluff it a bit with a fork and then the fun begins! Add your toppings and voila – you have a complete meal.

I took the advice of my newest cookbook selection for cookbook club and put in toppings that are quite different from what I would ever have thought of. Instead of the old standards; butter, maple syrup or honey, sour cream and chives, or bacon. Nope none of that. This potato was topped with creamy yogurt, turmeric flavored onions, citrus supremes, black olives, green onions, toasted walnuts, and chives. It was a remarkable combination of taste and texture in every bite. The natural sweetness of the potato paired with savory and tart worked really well together. It was a complete and satisfying meal on it’s own. 

There are so many ways you can use a potato as a blank canvas and top it to your liking. I’m thinking sour cream, black beans, green onions, tomatoes and avocado? Or how about some curried chicken and cauliflower? Feeling in an Italian mood, how about meatballs, spinach and marinara? You can really go crazy with this concept and use your imagination to create whatever your mood suggests!

Salt-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potato

Serves 2

Ingredients
  • 2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Toppings:

Citrus supremes cut into bite sized pieces, chopped black olives, toasted walnuts, sliced green onions, chives, and plain cream style yogurt or creme fraiche.

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
  2. Sprinkle the potatoes generously with salt and bake on a baking sheet for at least an hour or until tender throughout.
  3. While the potatoes are roasting, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, turmeric and a dash of salt. Cook until softened but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar to the pan and continue to cook for another minute or so until caramelized. Add water as needed, to keep the pan from drying. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. When the potatoes are done, cut in half lengthwise on one side and lightly squeeze open. Fluff a bit of the flesh with a fork and top the potatoes with the assorted toppings starting with the yogurt and turmeric onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
  • Use your imagination regarding toppings. These are just suggestions, but you can make your own creation with any number of other ideas. Try to be inventive and stay away from the standard butter, sour cream & chives and bacon. Have fun with it!

(click here) for printable recipe

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.3/10 (4 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
How to Make a Salt-Baked Sweet Potato a Complete Meal!, 9.3 out of 10 based on 4 ratings