Meal prep is hard, and sometimes it can feel daunting. BUT, cooking at home is SO essential to making sure you’ve got proper portion control & can see and feel what’s going into your body. It’s even more true that every bite of food we take is either going to help promote healing or promote inflammation. So by choosing to cook healthy foods at home, we’re really asserting this level of control over how our body can react.
so, LO & BEHOLD. I give to you a little recipe that is SO filling and can also be SUPER easy. It’s got a few steps, but it is magical and scrumptious. You can dress it up or keep it casual with just a few ingredients or by adding your own flare. Buffalo. Chicken. Sweet. Potato. Boats. WHO CAN SAY NO? (the answer is probably a few of you at least, but that’s alright). Here’s what you need.
INGREDIENTS:
Sweet Potato (4, large)
Chicken, shredded (1 full chicken, or 2-3 breasts)(pro tip: use a Costco bag of pre-shredded rotisserie chicken OR use the meat from a normal rotisserie chicken if you’re trying to simplify! Otherwise, I love to cook a whole chicken and save the bones for homemade bone broth.)
Green Onion (2 stalks)
Red Onion (1/2 diced)
Buffalo Sauce (LOVE the Tessmae’s Buffalo Sauce mixed with a little bit of Frank’s Red Hot)
Cheese of choice (I typically would use a crumbled blue cheese for this recipe, but since dairy is a no-go these days in my house, I’d opt for the Daiya mozzerella shreds)
*Optional – RANCH DRESSING. I haven’t found one that I am obsessed with, so I omit it. BUT, you can add a little ranch to cut the buffalo flavor and add a creamy texture.
STEP 1:
Get those potatoes cooking! I use an InstantPot to cook my taters, but you can ALWAYS use a traditional oven method.
In the InstantPot: after you’ve given your potatoes a quick external wash, throw the potatoes on top of the trivet insert however they’ll fit. Add 1-2 cup of water to the bottom to prevent any burning and to get the cooker up to pressure properly. PS: ALWAYS keep at least 1 cup of liquid at the bottom of your InstantPot to avoid burning! Set the cooker to MANUAL for 18-22 minutes (larger potatoes will need more time to cook than smaller ones) and make sure it is set to SEALED. When the pressure cooker is finished, let it naturally vent (aka don’t release the steam).
In the oven: Take a fork to the outside of your potatoes poking small holes. Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil. Bake in the oven at 350F for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.
STEP 2:
Time to work on the insides of the potato.
Combine in a bowl: shredded chicken of choice (you’ll need to pre-cook some chicken breasts if you’re not going to use a rotisserie chicken), sliced green onion, and diced red onion. Leave some onion out for additional topping. Add about 2 cups (to taste) of your buffalo sauce. Optional: add your ranch/creamy sauce. Let this mixture sit and soak in all the flavor while the potatoes are cooking.
STEP 3:
CAREFULLY, remove your potatoes from the InstantPot or oven. Slice the potatoes down the middle the long way (cut will go from “top” to “bottom”). Use a spoon to carve out the potato on the inside, saving the meat of the potato for other uses like mashed sweet potato.
STEP 4:
Scoop in your shredded chicken mixture and fill the potatoes. Top the mixture with your choice of cheese (or omit!). Throw the potatoes back in the oven on BROIL for 4-5 minutes. Keep an eye on the cheese to make sure it gets melty and bubbly, but doesn’t burn.
STEP 5:
Take the potatoes out of the oven and let them cool slightly. Throw on your toppings (onion, blue cheese crumbles, drizzle of extra sauce) and ENJOY.
VOILA. There you have it. Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potato Boats. It *can* be super easy, but the prep work for the potatoes is made a lot easier using the InstantPot. But here’s just another example of using good, wholesome ingredients to fuel your body to optimal levels. And some pretty flowers to go with it.
Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out for you!
sustaining sloan 