Smoky Bean & Soyrizo Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Gah! The dark of winter nights is upon us! Thus, I have lost my natural light for photos unless I want prepare my food at 3:00 p.m. I've heard about light boxes, but I'm just not ready to endeavor on that mission. I'm still trying to keep things pretty photographically organic around here at A Nickel's Worth of News. It is just turning out to be a lot of work to make sample plates on the weekends between the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That is not going to happen. Well it was happening for a while and the pictures were great, but that isn't real life in the kitchen. Here is what real life looks like at 6:07 p.m. on a Saturday night...

Pretty appetizing, bright, but not as good as some of my other photos. Sure I dressed her up to make it a good picture, but it is all about the lighting. I'm not going to beat myself up over it anymore. This little spud was darn tasty and very healthy for a weekend meal. It was also a revamp of a previous post back in May for my Smoky Bean & Soyrizo Burritos. I took the bean mixture, which is similar to a vegetarian chili, and stuffed my sweet potatoes. Top it off with a cool dollop of light sour cream and green onions and you've got a healthy meal that no one would suspect is all that healthy. Top notch, top notch.

Smoky Bean & Soyrizo Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

4 small sweet potatoes
2 cans great northern beans, drained & rinsed
1 link soyrizo, casing removed
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cidar vinegar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prick each sweet potato with a fork and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.

Meanwhile, heat a large soup pot over low heat. Combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over low heat until the potatoes are done baking. When you are ready to serve, take the potatoes out of the oven. Split each potato in half and top with the bean mixture. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, and green onions or other baked potato toppings if desired.