Here’s a quick recipe to share with you all while I work on my post featuring some of the food I ate in Ethiopia. I’m still really jet lagged, and this cold winter air is totally not helping. In thinking of a way to brighten my day, I thought of sweet potatoes! In all of their golden loveliness, the orange color makes me smile and their natural sweetness makes me crave less cookies 🙂 Stuffed with kale and mushrooms, you get a fun way to eat your veggies and an elegant side dish! Win and win! I’ll be back later in the week with Ethiopia photos, but for now au revoir! 😀

Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients: 

1. 4 sweet potatoes
2. 16 oz. mushrooms–sliced
3. 1/2 lb kale
4. olive oil
5. salt
6. pepper
7. cayenne pepper
8. nutmeg
9. 2-3 tablespoons vegetable broth
10. Earth Balance
11. smoked olive oil (optional)

 Method:

*Bake sweet potatoes in microwave until tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

*Drizzle ~2 tbs. of olive oil into sauté pan and heat over medium. Saute mushrooms until tender. Set aside.

*Wash and dry kale. Remove leaves from stems and discard stems (use in soup!). Roughly chop leaves. Heat ~2 tablespoons olive oil in medium sauce pan over medium. Add leaves, salt, pepper, dash nutmeg, and cayenne. Saute ~5-10 minutes. Add vegetable broth. Saute until broth is almost completely evaporated. Mix mushrooms and kale.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice potatoes lengthwise and scoop out sweet potato flesh, leaving ¼ inch rim around the potato to create a “boat”. Stuff each sweet potato with kale/mushroom mixture. Mix sweet potato flesh with Earth Balance, salt, and pepper. Top each sweet potato half with a bit of the sweet potato flesh. Bake uncovered for ~15 minutes. Before serving, drizzle with smoked olive oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Enjoy!