sweet potato nachos bowls

Adding more veggie variety to your diet is essential, but often time consuming and expensive!  Here's 2 recipes that use the same colorful vegetables in 2 flavor-unique dishes that allow you to get more bang for you buck & your time by prepping once but eating twice (or even 4 times if you count leftovers)!

I try to avoid wheat and corn on most days by replacing them with more veggies so after spending a recent morning at the fruit and veg market going a little overboard, I came up with these two dishes that I must say turned out pretty well!

These sweet potato nacho bowls and veggie spring rolls combine a variety of veggies for a meal that will leave you satisfied but not at all missing the heavy grains!

Sweet Potato Nacho Bowl:
PRODUCE:
2 medium sweet potatoes cut into 1/4 inch circles
1/2 diced white or red onion
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 red peppers sliced into thin strips
1/2 red onion diced
1/2 small red cabbage sliced thin
1-2 limes
2 avocados
fresh cilantro

SPICES:
garlic powder, cumin, onion powder, chili powder and salt to taste
hot sauce (optional)

PROTEIN
1-2 cups cooked pinto beans or lentils
1 lb grass-fed ground beef

Dairy:
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 Tbsp butter
sharp cheddar cheese

1. Cook the lentils according to package directions (or use the rice cooker) or use pinto beans (I usually soak/cook mine then freeze in batches but canned works here too)

2. Cook the sweet potatoes with butter and salt and pepper on 425 until soft and browned (about 15-20 minutes but keep an eye on them and ideally flip once)

3.  Put the cut cabbage in a bowl and sprinkle with the juice of 1/2 lime and a little cumin and salt and pepper

3. Brown the meat with 1/2 onion, spices and tomato paste (I like this brand b/c it tastes good and it's packaged in glass so no worry of BPA in the can lining)

4.  Make the avocado lime dressing:

Avocado Lime Dressing:
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup greek yogurt
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
cumin, salt and pepper to taste

5.  Top the sweet potato chips with meat, veggies (don't use all of the red pepper and cabbage as some is reserved for the spring rolls), avocado lime dressing and hot sauce to taste and enjoy!

Recipe makes 4-6 servings depending on who's eating and whether you want enough for leftovers.

Serve the leftovers over greens for a hearty taco salad the next day (PS, take this to work by layering it in a large glass pasta sauce dish with the lettuce on top so it doesn't get soggy and dressing on the side).

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on Veggie Spring Rolls with an amazing homemade peanut dipping sauce!