Balsamic and Arugula Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

  

          Please forgive me for the horrible picture. When I had planned on making this (delicious) side dish, I had no idea our realtor was going to call and let us know we had a house showing in an hour, which happened to be the last hour of daylight. So, this picture had to be taken under a light with a yellow tint making this picture become very un-appetizing, something that this side dish most certainly is not.

          I love when sweet potatoes make their appearance in the grocery store. I am not talking about the pink fleshed yams, instead, I love the golden yellow sweet potatoes. They are much more mild in taste than a yam, and literally taste like a sweetened potato. Some grocery stores only carry yams, and they sometimes even call the yams "sweet potatoes", but trust me, they are not. If you can't find true sweet potatoes, yams will do instead, but try your best to find sweet potatoes because they are so much better than yams!

      Ok, enough about yams. This can easily be a light dinner in itself. I was not sure how we would like this, but it was surprisingly stunning in flavor. All of the ingredients are simple, but together they create an amazing mixture of tastes and textures. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes pairs perfectly with the saltiness of the prosciutto, and the bite that the arugula brings. The arugula and prosciutto are nice and crunchy, and balance out the creaminess of the potato beautifully. And to finish it off, a drizzle of your best aged balsamic vinegar for a little moistness and tanginess, and some freshly shaved asiago cheese. My mouth is watering as I type....

Balsamic and Arugula Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is really simple, and has very little hands on time. The perfect side dish to entertain with!

Serves 4

2 sweet potatoes 

2 cups fresh arugula

4-8 spirals of Prosciutto, cooked until crispy

Really good aged balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Shaved Asiago or Parmesan cheese for grating

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes, and place in oven. Bake potatoes until they are tender, anywhere from 35 minutes to an hour. Let cool for 5 minutes and the cut in half. Scoop a little bit of the flesh of the potato out of each half and place in a re-sealable container for another use. Top each sweet with 1/2 cup arugula, 1-2 pieces of prosciutto crumbled, salt, pepper,  a drizzle of balsamic, and some shaved asiago cheese.