After yesterday’s ‘grown-up’ dessert, here is a childish dinner. A lot of my experimenting involves trying to make food as vegetable based as possible while making sure it still passes the husband taste test. This is one of our favourites which is almost entirely vegetables and brown rice so it’s super healthy and if you have pre-cooked rice in your freezer it can be ready in no-time!

I don’t usually put basil sails on my sweet potato boats, but I thought it was a nice touch and might be good for kids. In any case, have some fun with your food!
Q: What is your favourite way to have fun with food?


Sweet Potato Boats
Serves 4, 15 minutes prep and 10-20 minutes cooking

4 medium sized sweet potatoes, try to find rounder ones as they’re easier to stuff
2 cups of cooked brown rice
½ a large onion
2 tomatoes, diced
Seasoning – I like ‘tuscan’ seasoning, but use whatever you have on hand
Paprika (optional, but the flavour is good with sweet potato)
Cheese – parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella, use whatever you have; for vegan a topping of breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil is a good alternative.

Prick the sweet potato, or they can explode, then microwave your sweet potato until soft. This will usually take about 10-15 minutes, but should be done in 4-5 minute increments, turning each time. Use this time to prepare the filling.

Cut your onion into small slices, in a large bowl mix the onion and rice. If your rice is cold, heat it so that when you put it on top of the onion it helps cook it a little. Add your chosen seasonings and the tomatoes. If you want to keep the filling pale, leave the paprika to sprinkle on once the sweet potatoes are stuffed.

Cut the sweet potato in halves lengthways, place on a baking tray and scoop the centres out leaving a thin layer of flesh on the skins.

Fill your sweet potato with the rice mix, sprinkle on the paprika, top with cheese or breadcrumbs.

Because your filling is already cooked you can grill them for 5-10 minutes for a quick dinner. Otherwise bake for 20 minutes at 190 degrees until the cheese is melted.

Vegan version at the back, cheesy version at the front. Both were yummy.

This mix can be used to stuff other vegetables too, or make cabbage rolls which I will show you tomorrow.

So now you’re probably wondering what to do with the left over sweet potato. I usually just use it as a side of mashed potato for a meal the next day, but I have a couple of alternatives that I’ll post in the next few days, so stay tuned.