Easy Like Sunday Morning: White Sweet Potato & Turkey Sausage Hash

Mornings are a mad dash to get to work on time, so a quick egg sandwich is my go-to breakfast if I eat anything besides fruit. My son's idea of a "real" breakfast on the weekends is the typical American feast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns or pancakes, which totally conflicts with my plans to sleep as long as possible on my days off. I blame the grandfather for spoiling him. I'm not a morning person and I probably never will be, so breakfast just doesn't do a whole lot for me - that said, I think it's important to have a few easy but impressive dishes up your sleeve that are great for serving company or hungry children. So in my effort to present a diverse repertoire of recipes for the Kitchenista Diaries, I got up to cook breakfast this morning.

The sacrifices you make for a food blog...

White Sweet Potato & Turkey Sausage Hash

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked turkey sausage, diced

2 white sweet potatoes, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 sweet red onion, diced

Cumin, to taste

Coriander, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1-2 Tbsp Coconut oil

2 Tbsp butter

4 eggs, cooked to order (optional)

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Equipment Needed: 1 large fry pan or wok

First, a note regarding the ingredients. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes would work fine for this, I just used what I have on hand. I also like the surprise factor of a dish that looks like it's made with white potatoes but hits you with a touch of sweetness. Likewise, pork sausage, chorizo or  linguiça would be okay if you don't have turkey sausage, but there's a trade off on fat/calories. I used coconut oil which does add a layer of flavor to the hash, but olive oil or grape seed oil would be fine if that's what you have.

Cook your sausage per package instructions. Prep your other ingredients while sausage cooks. The potatoes, peppers, and onions should be diced in uniform size. After the sausage is cooked, wipe the pan clean and dice the sausage. Notice the missing sausage patty in my picture? Little man couldn't wait to eat!

Over medium high heat, add coconut oil to your pan and when it starts to ripple, add the diced potatoes. Pan fry 6-8 minutes or until golden brown and tender, stirring often. There will be a few more minutes of cooking time so you don't need to cook them all the way through at this point (if you do, you risk the potatoes being mushy towards the end.)

As potatoes brown, season with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander to taste. I went light on the cumin and coriander, too much tends to burn faster and discolor the dish.

Add the diced bell peppers and cook until peppers are tender crisp, 2-3 minutes.

Add the diced onions and cook until onions soften, 2 -3 minutes. My potatoes had absorbed all the oil at this point so I added a couple pats of butter for both flavor and to grease the pan.

Add the cooked sausage, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Toss well and cook until sausage is warmed, 1 -2 minutes.

Adjust seasonings as needed and finish with fresh parsley and cilantro.

As pictured, I served my hash with a fried egg sunny side up. Tip for a great fried egg: butter, low heat, and slow cook - it's actually more of a simmer than a sizzling fry. Baste the top of the egg with butter while cooking and remove from pan when egg whites are set, about 5 minutes.

Gently slide your egg over the hash, season with salt and pepper and serve!