Cheesy Bacon Sweet Potato Skins

These sweet potato skins, stuffed with creamy sweet potato mash and cheese and bacon, were originally created as a hooray-it's-Friday, game-day, movie-watching snack, but I'll let you in on a secret: the leftovers make a damn delicious breakfast when reheated. Whether you’re enjoying them in the morning or afternoon, it start the same way. Sweet potatoes (bake 'em up!). The soft, sweet flesh gets mashed with sour cream, which makes them ultra-creamy and flavorful.

Toppings is where these sweet potato skins get their name -- and where it gets really delicious. First -- shredded Monterey Jack. Then, bacon pieces. I used Tender Belly Habanero Bacon which was SO good because it's just the right balance of sweet and spicy, but your favorite bacon will be perfect, no matter what it is. The potatoes go in the oven like that, just until the cheesy is extra gooey, and then get topped with fresh green onions (need a little bit of green in all of that orange! 😉), a dollop of fresh sour cream, a few slices of jalapeño (for extra zip!), and a dash of smoked paprika (which also adds nice color and flavor).

All that's left to do is eat! 

Cheesy Bacon Sweet Potato Skins

Published January 22, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

   Print This Recipe

Serves: 12   |    Active Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients:

6 sweet potatoes

1/3 cup sour cream, plus more for topping

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1-1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup sliced green onions

Several dashes of paprika, for garnish

Optional: 1 jalapeño, sliced for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prick each sweet potato with a fork, and bake for 45-50 minutes, until sweet potatoes are soft all the way through. Allow sweet potatoes to cook 10-15 minutes, or until they are cool enough for you to handle.
2. Slice each sweet potato in half. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh out of each potato half and into a bowl without breaking the skin of the potato (tip: leave about 1/4 inch of flesh attached to the skin, it helps keep everything together!).
3. Mash sweet potato flesh with 1/3 cup sour cream, salt, and pepper until everything is incorporated (a few lumps are OK).
4. Scoop mashed sweet potato into potato skins. Top with cheese and bacon bits. Place back in oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and just starting to bubble. Remove from oven, and top with green onions, a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of paprika, and if using, a slice or two of fresh jalapeño.
5. Serve hot.

Reheating leftovers: Leftovers can be reheated in a microwave (1-2 minutes, depending on microwave), toaster oven or oven (350° for 10-15 minutes, until warmed through)

Chipotle BBQ Wings with Avocado Cream

It's rare I find myself cooking a "typical" American dish like wings. For some reason all of those typical dishes fall outside of my arsenal of recipe skills. Take mac and cheese--I have never, not even when I was at my height of pasta eating- made mac and cheese from scratch. (Saying that out load makes me want to make some, just for the hell of it). I do cook burgers occasionally, but there is always some twist, like Bacon Chipotle Burgers with Honeyed Jalapeños. 

Making a stir fry, taco bowl, or curry feels more intuitive to me, but when the Super Bowl rolls around I feel this need to make something more classic. It is, after all, pretty much the only day of the year that I tune in to one of pop culture's most iconic events. Still... I can't help but flex some creative muscle and make an avocado cream sauce on the side, but since these wings themselves are sauced in a sticky and sweet chipotle barbeque sauce, it feels miles away from anything ethnic.  

Even though this recipe sits outside of my typical comfort zone, I'm crazy for it. And who wouldn't be? These wings are the type of wings that require plenty of napkins because their sticky sauce is destined to cover your fingers. I learned quickly that quadrupling the recipe would be wise: a dozen wings is never enough (for two, or for a group). 

Chipotle BBQ Wings with Avocado Cream

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    |    Print This Recipe

Chipotle gives the BBQ for these wings a bit of a kick, while avocado cream cools it down.

Yields: 12   |    Total Active Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup barbeque sauce (I used Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup chipotles in adobo (canned)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• A dozen chicken wings
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Avocado Cream Sauce:
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves (loose, not packed)
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Prep the wings: use a paper towel to remove any excess moisture from wings, and place in a bowl.
2. Make the sauce: combine barbeque sauce, coconut oil, chipotles in adobo, cayenne (if you like things really spicy, you can add more cayenne), and salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour half of the sauce over the wings, and allow to marinate for 8-24 hours, in the fridge, covered.
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450°F. Remove wings from bowl and discard extra sauce. Place a wire cooling wrack on top of a baking sheet, and place wings on wire wrack, with about 1 inch between each wing. Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until internal wing temperature reaches 165°F and skin is crispy on the outside.
4. Using tongs, place wings in a mixing bowl. Pour about 1/4 cup of sauce over top, and toss to coat. Add more sauce as desired.
5. To make avocado cream sauce: Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
6. Serve wings on a platter along side bowl of cream sauce. Optional: garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Honey Sesame Chicken Wings & Make it Paleo 2 Cookbook Giveaway

 -- This Giveaway has ended, and the winner has been notified via email. Thank you to everyone that participated! --

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Each day last week, I checked the mail expectantly. I had ordered several things on Amazon and was getting impatient: Cocoa butter (to satisfy that chocolate addiction). Succulent cuttings (to plant in our collection of empty pots--BTW, did you know you could mail order these?!). As days passed, my patience wained (...chocolate...). Then, midweek,  I opened up the mail box to find a package. 

It was bubble wrapped, rectangular, and bendy. I know it was neither my plants nor my cocoa butter, but for a few minutes my curiosity piqued, distracting me from my missing deliveries. What is this?? A copy of Make it Paleo II!

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Make it Paleo 2 by Hayley Mason, Bill Staley, and Caitlin Grace Nagelson

This was a pleasant and welcome surprise, to say the least. Make it Paleo 2 contains over 175 grain-free recipes, many of them AIP-friendly, and pages lined with photos. The team at Primal Palate hit this one on the nose. If you've been looking for a new favorite food, it's probably in here. Barbacoa Tacos (tortillas included)? Check. Nightshade-free breakfast sausage? You got it. RAVIOLI? Yup, that's in there too. These Honey Sesame Wings were the star of our game-watching festivities last night. 

So now you want your own copy of Make it Paleo 2? Make it Paleo 2 will be available for purchase on February 17th, but I'll be giving away a free copy of this book here! Scroll down to the widget below to enter. The winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, February 8th, at 12 midnight (MST). Until then, I'll be making as many of the other recipes in here as I can! Stracciatella Gelato? More, please! 

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This cookbook's publisher sent me this book to review. Opinions are all my own. Supporting fellow healthy food bloggers is something I love to do! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note that only participants living in North America are eligible to win this sweepstakes. Winner will be notified by email on Feb. 9th and must respond with their mail information with in 3 days or a new winner will be selected. 

Honey Sesame Wings - from Make it Paleo 2 cookbook

1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon grated garlic

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup coconut aminos

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon raw honey

24 chicken wings, cut into winglets

Sea salt

For garnish: 1 tablespoon sesame seeds and 1 scallion, thinly sliced 

1. Make the sauce: heat the coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the red pepper flakes, coconut aminos, and fish sauce and stir to combine. Add the toasted sesame oil and honey and whisk over medium heat until the honey has completely dissolved and the sauce starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring every so often, until the sauce has reduced and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This can take up to 20 minutes.

2. While the sauce is cooking, grill the chicken wings. Preheat a grill to medium (400°F). Rinse the chicken under cold water, pat dry with a paper towel, and season with salt. Grill for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through, turning every 5 minutes. (Most grills have hot spots and cooler spots, so moving the chicken around a bit helps to ensure even cooking.) 

3. Toss the chicken wings with the honey sesame sauce, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, and top with the slices scallion. 

I served these along side Sriracha. Make your own, here.