Sweet Potato Nachos + Avocado-Jalapeno Aioli
There's pizza, poutine, donairs, and garlic fingers, but in Wolfville where I go to school, Scott Skins are the after-bar snack of choice. Wolfville is a tiny university town, and students drive most of the restaurants' business, so they are smart to appeal to twenty-somethings' late-night cravings.
Scott Skins are thinly sliced potatoes that are deep fried, then smothered with cheese and bacon and served with sour cream. What makes them special is the spice mix the potatoes are sprinkled with. The ingredients remain a well-kept secret, but it is seriously addicting stuff. Although, they have never appealed much to me, grabbing Scott Skins post-bar to help soak up the night's sins is pretty much a student right-of-passage at my university.
As the Super-Bowl is coming up, I started brainstorming some game-day recipes that were a step-up from your standard chips and salsa, and a little-less calorie-laden. Leading me to create this recipe, modeled after the fried potato skins you see on many late-night pub menus.
The key here is making nutrient-rich substitutions and changing the cooking technique.
The first switch-out: subbing in sweet potatoes, which contain less calories and more fibre, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A than white potatoes. Baking them in the oven instead of deep frying makes this dish much more virtuous. No need to bother peeling them, leave the skins on for extra fibre and vitamins!
Next up was the toppings. Using a sharper, aged cheddar means you get more flavour, so you can get away with using less. Adding veggies as toppings, instead of bacon or ground beef, adds even more nutrients, fibre, and colour!
Even the condiments got a makeover. Blended avocados give this dip its creaminess, and jalapeños give it a kick. I also like to serve it with plain greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream.
You end up with something between potato skins and nachos that is delicious, super shareable, and a nice change from the usual chips and dip.
This allows you to enjoy the game without ruining your New Years resolutions.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
Sweet Potato Nachos
serves 4
2 large sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/8" rounds
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup of grated aged cheddar cheese
1 red bell pepper, diced fine
1/4 cup of chopped green onions
plain greek yogurt, optional
For the Avocado Aioli
2 medium-sized avocados
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 1/2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
1 tbsp of pickled jalapeño brine
1/4 tsp salt
1. Preheat oven to 375. Using a large, sharp knife, slice sweet potatoes into 1/8" rounds. Place sliced sweet potato in a large bowl drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and place the rounds on the sheets, making sure they are not overlapping or on top of each other.
2. Bake the sweet potato for 20 minutes, flipping the rounds halfway through. Layer all of the baked sweet potato onto one of the baking sheets, top with the cheese, red pepper, and green onion, return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
3. While the sweet potato are cooking make the avocado aioli. In a blender, or using an immersion blender, blend together the flesh of both avocados, lime juice, jalapeños, jalapeño brine, and salt until smooth. Serve with nachos along with greek yogurt if using.