Fiesta Chicken Spud

This recipe was a perfect gateway to fall tastes. A nice blend of savory and sweet, with a kick! I looked at a few different stuffed sweet potato combinations and came up with my own version. This is not necessarily a recipe you can come home and whip up in 20 minutes, however, there are some ways to make that possible through preparation. You can pre-cook the chicken in a crock pot on the weekend and then have it to use throughout the rest of the week. I had plenty of this filling to use in both this and a chicken enchilada casserole within the same week. When meal planning, try to include both so you can get the most out of your grocery shopping purchases!

Ingredients:
Filling serves up to 8 people

• Package of 3 chicken breasts
• 1 jar of your salsa of choice
• 2 sweet potatoes (try to get similar shapes for cooking time purposes) 
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed
• 1 avocado, chopped
• Chili powder, to taste 
• Mexican blend cheese
• 2 tbsp. Fat-free Chipotle Ranch dressing

Place the chicken in the crock pot and then cover in salsa. Let cook for either 6 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Heat the oven to 415 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and then cover in foil. Set the spuds in the oven for 1 hour.

Take your chicken/salsa mixture and add the black beans and corn in the crock pot, or if reheating, do so in a large skillet.

I found that after an hour, mine still were not completely softened. I removed the foil and nuked in the microwave for 4 minutes. Cut off the top 1/3 of the potato and then using a spoon, create a shallow scoop into the potato lengthwise. Take the chicken mixture and pile it into the groove you have created in the potato. Sprinkle with chili powder for added flavor. Top with cheese (use microwave if you'd like to make it nice and melty), then add avocado. Finally, I used the chipotle-ranch dressing as a final flavor surge.

Fun fact: if you have a pup, use the discarded top 1/3 of the sweet potato for them. It is full of amino acids and antioxidants that are beneficial to your dog's overall health, but it can also help with digestion.