Delicious Southwestern Sweet Potato Skillet

Is it just me, or has this been quite a week? If you’re having one of those weeks and time is short, or if you’re just looking for a quick, nutritious meal, this sweet potato skillet is perfect. It’s easy to make with about 15 minutes of active time and 30 minutes total. Full of antioxidants, the main flavor for this skillet comes from the truly magical combination of sweet potato and black beans. I can’t explain it, but somehow when those two unlikely items are paired together, the result is spectacular. A little sweet, a little savory, and totally delicious.

The even better news is that apart from the sweet potato and black beans, everything else is optional, which works great if you’re putting this together on-the-fly.

Here’s what you need to make a delicious Southwestern Sweet Potato Skillet:

Ingredients (two servings):

• 1 medium-large sweet potato
• 1/2 can (about 3/4 cup) cooked black beans
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 (or more) avocado
• 1/2 fresh lime
• Cilantro, coarsely chopped, to taste (I like about 1 Tablespoon per person)
• Salsa (as much as you like)
• Sour cream or plain yogurt (as much as you like)
• A little olive oil for the pan

Method:

1. Peel and slice the sweet potato into 1/2″ rounds. The ends can be sliced in half like in this photo:
2. Put the sweet potato rounds in a single layer in a lightly-oiled pan (non-stick is great for this) and cook, covered, on medium-low for about 10-12 minutes.
3. Flip the sweet potato rounds so they cook on the other side, covered, for an additional 10-12 minutes. They should be soft when pierced with a fork, and browned so they’re a bit caramelized.
4. While this is happening, prep the other ingredients:
5. Remove the sweet potatoes and keep warm on a plate, under the lid.
6. Add the onions to the pan and cook until they start to get translucent, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the black beans to the onions and cook for about 5 minutes longer until the onions are soft and the beans are warm.
8. Divide the sweet potato rounds between two plates and add 1/4 lime, 1/4-1/2 avocado, sour cream, and salsa:
9. Top with the black bean and onion mixture:
10. Cook the eggs to your desired temperature.
11. Top with cooked egg and cilantro and enjoy:

Side note: The photo is missing the cilantro because it turns out it’s remarkably difficult to decorate a plate with chopped fresh herbs. It always looks so nice in restaurants, but when I tried it at home, it looked like I’d dumped a bag of lawn clippings onto the plate (1 Tbsp is clearly too much for a good photo, although it tastes great!). From now on I’ll have a new-found respect for that delicate dusting of parsley decorating my plate at a restaurant! (who knew?)

Tips and Tricks:

• The cooked sweet potato rounds, beans, and onions can all be refrigerated and reheat well.
• Unused black beans (the other half of the can, for example) can be frozen for use next time. The cooked beans and onions mix can also be frozen for future use.
• I like to cook everything for this meal in the same pan to save on washing-up afterwards, but if you want dinner even faster, you can cook everything simultaneously in different pans.
• To keep fresh herbs longer, store them in the fridge in a small glass of water with a plastic bag over them. Kind of like a mini-greenhouse. Cilantro keeps for at least a week this way, and up to three if you’re diligent about changing the water.

I hope you enjoy this delicious and nutritious sweet potato skillet. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question, and don’t forget to follow Creatorvox on Facebook and Twitter for more tips and tricks between posts. Thanks for reading, and happy making!