Unique, I know. The hubs has already mentioned that. You see the first time I had mentioned this vision of Thanksgiving leftovers he turned his nose up at it. Caesar dressing on top of a sweet potato?!? He wasn’t feeling it at all. But don’t worry, that didn’t stop me. Nope, it made me want to prove to him (say rebel) that this could be a very delicious, savory and enjoyable rendition of leftovers that he would want to take for ….well, leftovers? I guess that makes this leftover meal so delicious it will become leftovers again making it leftover leftovers. Well that doesn’t sound as good as I hope hoped but lets just go with it.
So these stuffed sweet potatoes are pretty much the best thing since sliced bread. Yes, really that great! I’m really starting to think you could stuff about anything in a sweet potato and it would be fan-didily-tastic. All you need in a meal, right there in a potato skin. Before we get to the good stuff about these potatoes and I fill you in on how the hubs literally stuffed his face with these after photographing (I even have proof, whahaha), lets talk about Friday shall we. Friday, like the day after Thanksgiving, ahem Black Friday, yeah are you going?
I feel like there are two types of people in this world. Those who love black Friday and those that don’t. Like lock themselves in their house for fear of the madness that black Friday brings. I, well I enjoy black Friday. I mean I really, really, really enjoy it. Don’t judge… I feel like I need to explain myself, I’m a black Friday shopper, who leaves earlier than I should but I’m not one of the crazy’s who camps out in a tent and feels the need to be aggressive to get those few items that really probably aren’t that great of a deal. Enough clarification, are we still friends? I’m taking that as a yes…
Now I’m a little torn over this little Friday gig. I am so excited that I find myself skipping right over Thanksgiving, the grateful holiday, to the most ungrateful, Americanized, 1st world day of the year. And then I feel really terrible and cry why, why, why in my head and then go right on being super excited for it. Do you see this internal struggle, this battle. UGH! So I’ve decided that because gratefulness is so important in life, in health and on Thanksgiving, I am giving you (and me) a little challenge for the next few days and really focus on all that you are grateful for. From now until Thanksgiving day I want you to write down five things you are thankful for in your life, in your health and in your relationships with others. Whoa, fifteen things? Yes, fifteen now get crackin’! And why not hashtag these fifteen things and all the delicious food you make so we can all be encouraged –>EEK<– We’ll make the hashtag #thanksgivingroots because being grateful is the root of this Holiday.
Oh boy, I am feeling warm and fuzzy already. So now we can all enjoy Thanksgiving, really, truly be grateful for all that we have and then still enjoy, ahem Friday. Ahhh, are we all feeling better about this now or is it just me? Now that we’ve taken care of the elephant in the room, lets get back to the stuffed sweet potatoes, shall we?
As I mentioned, the hubs was not impressed with the thought of this creation, so I knew I had to blow his socks off. Lets all get on the same page, if it includes the word stuffed, it is going to be amazing. Stuffing anything is like the icing on the cake. It takes the ordinary and turns it into the extraordinary and in this case it takes the boring, standard, turkey, spinach and sweet potatoes slap it all together with a touch of sweetness and then smother it in Caesar dressing, That is what I call spectacular. You may be wishing for thanksgiving just to get to this moment right here….
Did I mention how much the hubs actually enjoyed this? Did you see the proof that the food critic couldn’t even wait to put it on a plate and head to the table. Nope, he was just shoveling it in the second I got done taking pictures. And babe, I saw you pour on a little extra dressing when you thought no one was looking…you can admit it, that Caesar idea was pretty good? JUST ADMIT it okay? Did I mention how grateful I am for his honesty?
- 3 sweet potatoes, pre-cooked
- 2 cups shredded turkey (chicken will work as well)
- 4 cups spinach, chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- DRESSING
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup mayonnaise (homemade or store bought)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese to baking sheet and spread into a thin layer. Repeat until you have 6-8 cheese rounds.
- Bake for 4-6 minutes or until golden and just beginning to crisp. Remove and cool on baking sheet.
- Chop spinach and place in a bowl with turkey and cranberries. Mix together.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and coconut oil.
- Once hot add spinach and turkey mixture and cook until spinach just begins to wilt.
- Remove from heat.
- Cut sweet potatoes in half and remove some of the sweet potato (saving for another dish). Stuff the sweet potatoes with the turkey-spinach mixture.
- Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make dressing.
- Add garlic, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt & pepper, worcestershire sauce and parmesan cheese to blender. Blend until combined. Slowly add olive oil until fully incorporated.
- Remove potatoes from oven and drizzle with dressing and top with a Parmesan crisp.
- ENJOY!
