Stuffed baked sweet potato with bacon, arugula and gorgonzola sour cream

What do bacon, arugula and champagne vinaigrette all have in common? They're featured in three yummy dinner recipes this week! So get excited!

I bought a package of bacon and a bag of arugula at the beginning of the week, and ended up making three very delicious dinners out of them--some new, some recreations--and I'll be sharing those recipes with you guys this week! So head to the store and grab you some bacon and arugula and champagne vinaigrette and join me!

[you'll need: a sweet potato, bacon, gorgonzola bleu cheese, champagne vinaigrette,
sour cream, olive oil, parsley, arugula. beer optional (but not really).]

First up: a baked sweet potato!

I had never actually done a baked sweet potato before, so I didn't realize how...well..sweet and caramel-y they are! I popped one in the oven at 400 after washing and stabbing it a few times so it wouldn't explode, and let it bake for about an hour (keep an eye on it, though!).

While it was baking, I made the bacon. I fried three slices up in a pan, and set them aside to cool and be crumbled. **Special note: save your bacon grease! Keep a rinsed-out can in your freezer and pour your bacon drippings in there--it makes for a delicious fat for cooking things in later on! Like Amanda's butternut squash soup.**

Next, the gorgonzola sour cream. I was inspired to use it for this recipe by a restaurant in my college town of Rome, Georgia: Harvest Moon Cafe. They have a house-made sweet potato chips with a gorgonzola dip that is to die for--so from that I knew gorgonzola and sweet potatoes make a delicious pair.

I started with about 3oz of gorgonzola cheese, found in the deli section of my favorite Publix. I combined that with 2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar (spoiler alert: this will star in a salad dressing later this week!) and mashed with a fork until it was almost creamy. I stirred in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a third a cup of sour cream, as well as 2 teaspoons of dried parsley and salt and pepper to taste. I popped the bowl in the fridge until ready to use.

When the potato is all nice and baked through, I put it on a plate and made a slice through the middle, but not cutting it completely in two. I grabbed my arugula and put a couple handfuls in/on top of the potato, followed by a few spoonfuls of the gorgonzola sour cream, and topped it off with the bacon crumbles.

I poured myself a beer because I wouldn't want it to be too healthy, and voila!

Give it a try and let me know how you like it! and stay tuned for the next bacon/arugula/champagne vinaigrette recipe!