Healthy Dinner or Game Night Snack: Chipotle Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

As my husband has been reminding me on a near hourly basis, football season is coming.  And we all know that the start of football season is directly correlated with an uptick in the consumption of beer and all sorts of comfort foods: wings, chips and dips, mozzarella sticks, potato skins.  It sounds like your skinny jean’s worst nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be!

For any of you trying to eat healthy, these stuffed sweet potato skins are going to be your new best friend!  They make for a low-calorie dinner that’s filled with nutrients.  Served with a green salad or some steamed broccoli, I guarantee they will leave you feeling immensely satisfied.

But I bet you won’t hear the guys complaining when you set these out as a game time snack!

In fact, Courtney’s only complaint was that I had already laid claim on the leftovers for my lunch the next day. To make sure you avoid this sort of argument, I have doubled the recipe for you.  These involve too much prep work for only three servings, and trust me when I tell you you’re going to want leftovers.

Chipotle Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients:

• 6 medium sweet potatoes
• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
• 10 oz bag of fresh spinach
• 8 oz shredded low-fat mozzarella
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 T fresh lime juice
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (Depending on your preferred level of spice, you will want to use 4-6 of the chili peppers, minced and with the deeds removed)
• 2 tsp dried oregeno
• 1 T cumin
• 2 T chili powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. This step can be done the night before if you wish: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and prick all over with a fork. Place in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until fork tender. Place your chicken in a baking dish and rub with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place in the oven with the potatoes and bake for 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers, 3 T remaining adobo sauce, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.
3. Once the chicken has cooled, shred the chicken with a fork or your hands.
4. Once the sweet potatoes have cooled, cut in half.  Scrape the flesh out of the peel, leaving a layer of flesh inside so that the peel can stand on its own, but you have plenty of room to stuff them.  Of course you should reserve the flesh for future use!   This is what it should look like:
5. The oven should still be at 425 degrees.  Brush the skins with a little of the chipotle sauce, place in a baking dish, and bake for 5-10 minutes until nice and crisp. While the skins bake mix the spinach, chicken and chipotle sauce together.
6. Meanwhile, heat the spinach in a skillet or in the microwave until wilted.  Toss with the shredded chicken and remaining adobo sauce.
7. Remove skins from the oven and stuff with the chicken mixture, top with shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the skins are hot and crisp and the cheese is melted.

Serves 6 as meal, 12 as an appetizer

Nutrition per 1/6 recipe: 314 Calories, 21 Carbs, 13g Fat, 34g Protein, 4g Fiber

Johanna