Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with Canadian Bacon, Red Pepper & Sage

Hash browns are my breakfast nemesis. You know, the thing you just can’t resist no matter how many healthy choices are placed in front of you. Or maybe it’s the bacon. Or the Eggs Benedict. Clearly, eating out for breakfast can be an issue and potentially hazardous to my healthy eating and weight loss efforts. All the more reason to come up with healthy breakfast options that I can make at home.

I’ve already tackled the eggs benedict, coming up with a southwestern version that tastes better each time I eat it. As for the bacon – well, there’s no hope for me there. When a plate of crispy fried pig fat is placed in front of me, I’m a goner. Moving on. Let’s talk hash browns.

There are so many fantastic health benefits to sweet potatoes (well, at least when you don’t mix them with butter and top with sweet and spicy pecans…one of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes). Not only are they rich in dietary fiber and beta carotene, but they also have high levels of protein, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. Now that’s what I call a powerhouse veggie.

In this recipe, I sauteed sweet potatoes and a few russet potatoes with Canadian bacon (a low-fat alternative to regular bacon), red bell peppers and green onions. To add a little zing, the hash is flavored with chile flakes, nutmeg and fresh sage. To avoid mushy potatoes, do not over-boil the potatoes. They should be just tender, and the rest of the cooking will take place in the skillet, where the Canadian bacon and potatoes will turn golden brown.

This dish is naturally at home on the breakfast or brunch table, but we also serve it at dinner time, alongside some eggs and extra vegetables. Really, who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

The recipe:

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add sweet and russet potatoes and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.

Heat a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium heat. Add Canadian bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until just starting to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Add red chile flakes, red bell pepper, and white and light green parts of green onion. Cook until red bell pepper starts to soften, about 2 minutes.

Stir in cooked sweet and russet potatoes, salt and nutmeg.

Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes start to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Serve.

Other hash recipes:

• Never Enough Thyme’s Hash Brown-Omelet Skillets
• Clean Eating Chelsey’s Butternut Squash & Kale Hash
• Savoring the Thyme’s Purple Potato Breakfast Hash
• The Yummy Life’s Individual Parmesan Hash Brown Cups
• Sweet Potato Hash with Canadian Bacon, Red Pepper & Sage
• From the kitchen of Cookin' Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com
• Ingredients
• 1 ½ lbs. sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice (about 4 ½ cups)
• 8 oz. russet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice (about 1 ½ cups)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 oz. Canadian bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp red chile flakes
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch dice
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg (preferably fresh)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage

Instructions

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add sweet and russet potatoes and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.

Heat a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium heat. Add Canadian bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until just starting to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Add red chile flakes, red bell pepper, and white and light green parts of green onion. Cook until red bell pepper starts to soften, about 2 minutes.

Stir in cooked sweet and russet potatoes, salt and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes start to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Serve.

2.0

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