SHINYCOPPERPIG

I really should have taken a picture of this beauty, but I was freaking hungry and needed to eat. That packet of miso soup at 4pm was not cuttin’ it. Hence, this magical creation – ready in 7 minutes flat. Warm, filling, flavorful and crazy healthy. Did I mention fast?

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato
1/2 can can red kidney beans, drained
1/2 ripe avocado
1/2 cup salsa of choice – I went for medium chunky (horrible name)
1 tsp good quality olive oil – the light flavored, green-grass scented stuff
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Rinse sweet potato and wrap in plastic wrap. Poke a few holes through the wrap into the potato. Place wrapped potato in a bowl in the microwave. My wimpy microwave leftover from grad school took 5.5 minutes to cook. Yours will likely take 4-6 minutes depending on wattage.

TIP: Sure, you can bake the potatoes in the oven. That’ll take one hour at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Just making a point about efficiency here.

2. While potato is cooking, open and drain the kidney beans. Slice the avocado. Once the potato is cooked until it’s easy to pierce with a fork, pull it out of the microwave with oven mitts. Seriously, y’all, I’ve screamed profane things in the office kitchen while burning off my fingerprints attempting to pull bowls out of the microwave by hand.

3. Slice potato in half in the bowl. Fill with 1/2 can of kidney beans and 1/2 cup of salsa. Zap in the microwave 1 additional minute. Remove carefully and top with sliced avocado, drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste.

Ta da! Your entire meal can be made and consumed in less time than it takes to watch an episode of The Daily Show. Ooh, this recipe for stuffed sweet potatoes with greens and beans looks promising too.  Or this one, kale and quinoa stuffed sweet potatoes. I’ve found my inner yam monster! Plus, tomorrow I’m taking the leftover beans, avocado and salsa to work for stuffing in a pita pocket.

I ate this with a glass of red wine from the Cote du Rhone that was on sale at the store. I didn’t like it enough to list the wine here, but I’m sure a little sweeter wine could go nicely. A drier Riesling perhaps, or a Zinfandel?