Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Smashed Avocado – Food Life Love

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Picadillo has been one of my favorite dishes to make for a while now. It is such a versatile dish and I am always changing it up! What is Picadillo? It is a traditional Cuban stylebeef recipe simmered with spices, tomatoes, olives and sometimes nuts and raisins. It is like a supe’d up version of taco meat. I have made it to top on nachos, stuff in croquettes, serve in tacos. I don’t think I have ever come across a picadillo dish I didn’t love!

Today, I prepared picadillo with sweet potatoes, which gives a flavor contrast between sweet and savory. The sweet potatoes have that sweet, smooth texture while you get that savory bite of the spicy beef mixture. Then the mashed avocado on top balances it all out! It is a flavor bomb in your mouth. I especially like this recipe because I’m using 92/8% Laura’s Lean Beef™ for the picadillo which has the perfect amount of fat to meat ratio. I have loved working with Laura’s Lean Beef because I amsomeone who always wants to know where my food comes from. Laura’s Lean Beef is a family run, health conscious company who believe in putting only the best quality out for their consumers. Their beef is all natural, their cattle has no antibiotics or growth hormones and fed an all vegetarian diet. With these principles and company standards, I feel good about what I am feeding my family. This picadillo is just one of many recipes I have made with their meat and highly suggest you try their products! Also, make sure to make a double batch of picadillo while you are at it-you will thank me later when you have those leftovers! The picadillo freezes nicely and makes getting dinner ready that much easier! Enjoy!

Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Smashed Avocado – Food Life Love

Prep Time:
15m
Cook Time:
1h
Total Time:
1h 15m

Ingredients

Picadillo

2 lb Laura’s Lean Ground Beef™
1 tomato, finely chopped
1/2 yellow onion, about 1 cup, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
8 oz can tomato sauce
8 oz can of water (simply fill tomato sauce can with water)
3 tbsp. olive salad with brine

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes
2 avocados
1 tbsp. cilantro, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lime, juiced plus extra for serving
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Scrub the sweet potatoes so that they are completely clean and rinsed of any dirt. Poke the potatoes all around with a fork. This will help the potato cook evenly. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, until tender. The potatoes will be soft to the touch when ready.
In a large nonstick skillet, brown 2 pounds Laura’s Lean Ground Beef™ in 1 tablespoon of avocado oil over medium high heat. Cook the beef for about 6-8 minutes, until the beef is no longer pink. Break the beef up with a wooden spatula as it cooks so it doesn’t have any large chunks. When the meat is done, add in the chopped peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Cook the vegetables with beef until they become tender. This will take about 5 minutes.
When the vegetables are tender, add in the spices and let them cook with the beef mixture. Allow the spices to toast for about 2 minutes. When the spices have cooked and brought out their flavors, add in the tomato sauce. Stir everything together and season with salt and pepper.
Lower the heat to a simmer and add the water and olive mixture. I like to fill the same tomato sauce can with water so that it picks up any extra sauce. Toss everything together and cook for another 18-20 minutes to allow all the picadillo flavors to develop.
While the picadillo is simmering, make the smashed avocado. This is simply a really easy guacamole. Add the flesh from 2 avocados into a bowl along with the garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mash everything together until it is the consistency of your liking. I like my guacamole to have some larger chunks of avocado in it. Taste the mixture to make sure it is seasoned correctly.
Build the potatoes: First, cut the cooled sweet potatoes in half but not all the way down the middle. You want to create a pocket for the picadillo. Spoon the picadillo into the sweet potato pocket. I use about 1/3 cup per potato. You can use more or less, depending on how large your potatoes are. Top the picadillo mixture with 1-2 tablespoons of smashed avocado. Serve with fresh jalapeños, lime wedges and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!

xo, Rachel

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