Preheat your oven to 400F

With a fork or the tip of a sharp knife, poke holes in the sweet potato skin

Season the sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper

Place the sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven until fork tender, about 35-40 minutes

Dice the bell pepper and yellow onion

Finely mince the garlic

Remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños (leave them in if you like a lot of heat). Then, finely dice the jalapeños

Strain and rinse the black beans

Chop the fresh cilantro

In a large frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil

Toss in the bell pepper, onion, and jalapeño. Cook for 2 minutes

Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds

Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and ½ cup beef broth. Stir well and cook down the broth

Add in the lean ground beef. Break up into small chunks. Season with 3 tbsp taco seasoning, salt and pepper

Once the beef is cooked, add the diced green chiles and black beans. Mix everything together well

Cut the sweet potato to open it up length-wise

Add your southwest beef mixture on top of the sweet potato

Top with cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a tablespoon of light sour cream

Save time with a batch cook move: Roast extra sweet potatoes while you’re at it. They reheat beautifully and make your next shift meal basically done. Same effort, double the payoff.

Use the sweet potato as a flavor sponge: Slice it open while it’s still hot and fluff the inside with a fork. This creates little pockets to soak up all that beefy, seasoned goodness.

Finish with acid like a chef: That squeeze of lime at the end isn’t optional, it wakes everything up and balances the richness of the beef. If your dish tastes “flat”, 9 times out of 10, it just needs acid.