Sweet potatoes of some sort have become an integral part of Thanksgiving in the US. Sadly, they’re often dumped out of a can, sprinkled with brown sugar, then topped with marshmallows. Sigh!

I will agree that sweet potatoes can use some flavoring, so I decided to find a better way than covering them with sugar. Stuffing them offers the benefit of utilizing the skin, PLUS being able to assemble them ahead of time – a huge bonus when you’re trying to get a holiday dinner on the table.

STUFFED SWEET POTATOES – makes 2 servings

• 1 sweet potato
• 2 T butter
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed & minced
• 1/3 cup scallions, sliced (use whites and greens)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 oz (1/2 cup) jack cheese, shredded (I like jalapeño jack for an extra kick)

Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit.

Wash unpeeled sweet potato and pierce with a sharp knife a few times. Microwave 2 minutes each side until soft in center – (about 6-8 minutes total). (You can bake them in the oven if you’d rather.) Set cooked sweet potato aside to completely cook in center while you prepare the filling.

Melt butter in a saucepan, and sauté jalapeño and scallions over medium flame for about 3-4 minutes – until the butter has browned, but not the scallions. Remove from heat and add in salt and pepper. Slice sweet potato in half lengthwise and scrap out pulp, leaving a 1/4″ border intact. Chop pulp to break up strings, then mash. Stir mashed sweet potato into jalapeño mixture along with all but 2 T of the cheese.Fill each sweet potato shell with the mixture. Sprinkle 1 T cheese on each half.  At this point they can be covered and baked just before serving.Bake at 375º F for about 8 minutes, until sweet potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.