Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Last week ended up being crazy busy for us, as I had to be downtown 3 days in a row unexpectedly. I barely had a second to breathe let alone plan dinner, so the slow cooker was dusted off about a week earlier than expected. Not that I minded spending 15 minutes in the morning to coming home to a wonderfully smelling kitchen.

One of the things I made in the crock pot, besides this delicious chili, was "baked" sweet potatoes. All I had to do was wrap them in foil, throw them in the crock pot, turn on low, and come home with a ravenous stomach and a plan for a quick meal! Have I given thanks to the slow cooker Gods yet?

On the bus ride home I had come up with an idea for the sweet potatoes that involves semi-gutting then re-stuffing them with a tex-mex mixture (a lot like stuffed zucchini or squash). Given my love for the sweet potato/black bean combination and my craving for spice I jotted down a hodgepodge of ingredients I thought would go well with the bean and potato base.

Its basically a "dry" chili with tons of flavor. Now I know this recipe isn't revolutionary in any sense, but it was new to us and ready in about 20 minutes. Mission accomplished.

You could use the mixture as a side dish, filling for a vegetarian burrito, or maybe a sweet potato hash! Oh the ideas that went through my mind as I devoured mine.

Recipe Review: Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Perfection

Most of the time when I find a recipe I want to make I end up tweaking it here and there to make it something more up our alley. But sometimes I see something that looks and sounds so good that I don't want to change anything. This happened when I came saw Jenna's recipe for crock pot carnitas tacos back in July.

I bookmarked it in my head until last week when both Mark and I were craving tacos. I told him about the recipe and he was down. We went off to Whole Foods for some flank steak, came home to dust off the crock pot, seasoned and topped the meat, and waited the long 8 hours.

Ingredients for success

Look how deliciously red the flank steak is

Rubbed with spiced and topped with chopped produce

8 hours later on a corn tortilla and topped with salsa & avocado

Boy was it worth it. The steak was tender and juicy. The onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño combined for melt-in-your-mouth amazing flavor. Add corn tortillas, salsa, and fresh avocado, and you've got a home run. 

Both Mark and I agreed that we wouldn't have changed a thing as far as the meat goes (except maybe adding more jalapeño, we like the heat). We also thought it tasted phenomenal in the tacos, much better than your run of the mill ground beef mixed with taco seasoning.

But we also noted how much like a roast the meat tasted. It wasn't a bad thing, just not what we were expecting. It was a pleasant surprise that left us wishing we had made more meat (we ate the entire 1/2 lb in one sitting). This slow cooked flank steak would taste absolutely mouth wateringly good as sandwich filling, with some melted cheese on top of course.

So if you're looking for a no hassle, tastes-like-you've-slaved-for-hours taco recipe, head on over to Eat, Live, Run and get your slow cooked carnitas on!