kale, mushroom and chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes

Good morning!

If you are anything like me, you have listened to way too much Mariah Carey holiday music, consumed too many eggnog lattes, and have eaten more than your body weight in pumpkin cookies, pumpkin scones, and pumpkin bread. (Oh yeah, and pumpkin spice lattes). The holiday season needs to end! Okay, I swear I didn’t mean that last part. I don’t want the season to end, I just need to work on my self-control.  I could start small, for example change my Pandora station, switch to black coffee, and maybe eat an apple somewhere in the meantime. All I know is that somethings gotta give.

We woke up this morning to another dusting of snow. It really does feel like Christmas around here. Naturally, I turned on my Mariah Carey holiday station, made an eggnog latte, and ate a slice of pumpkin bread. Help!

Thank god for my running partner. Henry got us out the door for a very snowy 5 mile run. At least someone has my best interest at heart. I am feeling a little more like myself now.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I want to share this lovely stuffed sweet potato recipe with you all. It’s healthy, delicious, and very filling.  You’ll get stuffed with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, beta carotene, iron and all sorts of other healthy goodness. With a dinner like this, you will probably be too full to reach for a pumpkin cookie for dessert. No promises though!

These stuffed sweet potatoes were drizzled with a lemon-honey tahini dressing.  The sweet and the savory is so stinking good I can’t get enough.

Kale, mushroom and Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Lemon-Honey Tahini Dressing: Serves 2-4 people

For the lemon-honey tahini dressing:

5 tbs lemon juice

3/4 cup of tahini

3/4 cup of water (you may need to add more if dressing is to thick).

2 tbs honey

2 cloves of garlic, minced

dash of salt

With an immersion blender combine all the ingredients. If you don’t have one, mix vigorously with a whisk. Add more water if need be. Taste test and set aside.

For the sweet potatoes:

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean

4 cups of chopped kale, stems removed

2 cups mixed mushrooms

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 14 zo can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Pierce each sweet potato several times with a fork. Bake in the oven for about 45-60 minutes. Potatoes are done when you can easily pierce them with a knife.

While the potatoes are baking make your filling.  In a large skillet saute’ the onions over medium heat in 1 tbs of olive oil. Cook for about 8 minutes.  Add the mushrooms. Cook for a few more minutes. Add garlic and kale.  Cook for about 5-8 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Add the can of chickpeas, a dash of salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Reduce heat to low until potatoes are done. Make sure to stir often so the mixture doesn’t stick!

Once potatoes are done, slice each one in half. Scoop a healthy portion of the veggie mixture into the potato. Drizzle with lemon-honey dressing and enjoy!