Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pomegranate, Goat Cheese and Spinach

Hey, everybody! It's Madeline, and I'm finally back. Did you miss me? ;) I have a really exciting recipe for you that is perfect for the season. It seems a bit strange, but the flavors are absolutely perfect together. The recipe is Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pomegranate, Goat Cheese and Spinach. This is a side dish, and when I made it two weeks ago, I served it alongside grilled pork chops. I recommend bringing this dish to your family Thanksgiving gathering in a few weeks - it's absolutely perfect for the season, and the ingredients are so easy to access at this time of year!

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pomegranate, Goat Cheese and Spinach
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 large sweet potatoes
Coconut oil
About 2 tsp maple syrup (to taste)
½ cup pomegranate seeds
½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
½ cup goat cheese crumbles
½ cup pre-washed baby spinach
Salt and pepper, to taste



The main ingredients



 Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the sweet potatoes and rub them in a small amount of coconut oil. Pierce each sweet potato a few times with a fork on all sides. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, turning the sweet potatoes over halfway through the cooking time. You'll know that they are done when the insides of the potato are very soft. Cut a line down the middle of each sweet potato, lengthwise, that doesn't quite touch the edges or the bottom of the sweet potato. Then, make three cuts horizontally across the vertical cut. Make sure that these cuts don't go all the way through the sweet potato! Wearing oven mitts, or waiting until the potato is cool, push up against the sides of the potato to open it up. Add about ½ tsp of maple syrup (you may add more or less, to taste), salt and pepper to each potato. Mix well.

2. Top each potato with 2 tbsp pecans, 2 tbsp goat cheese crumbles, 2 tbsp spinach and 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds, in that order. Serve immediately with a seasonal main dish. Enjoy!



The finished product!




Thanks so much for supporting Teens Can Cook, Too! Please follow this blog and follow us at all of our social media handles. The holidays are coming up, and there will be lots of really fun holiday posts coming your way in the next two months, so be sure to stay updated. If you make this recipe (which you should because it's DELICIOUS), please take a picture and share your recreations with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using #teenscancooktoo.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/teenscancooktoo

Instagram: http://instagram.com/teenscancooktoo (@teenscancooktoo)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teens-Can-Cook-Too/113579778813832

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdiKFPsBoLhYw2W42P7LvKQ

Stay healthy!

- Madeline