Sweet Potato + Bacon Breakfast Hash

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post (no pun intended . . . maybe), I just want to share something with you all.

I took this photo with my iPhone.

And, honestly, that really would be no big deal, except for the fact that I literally spent hours, in the days preceding this post, researching all the fancy equipment and lenses and tools I needed to create beautiful pictures (according to the food blogosphere). And then, I spent the morning of this post running around like a mad woman trying to find foam boards to use as reflectors so that my pictures wouldn’t have unwanted shadows and white sheets to hang from my windows, in case I needed to diffuse the light (even though, I’m still not sure in what circumstances one would need to diffuse light). And THEEENN, I spent what felt like an eternity trying to figure out how to use my husband’s DSLR camera (because, obviously, that is what a serious blogger is supposed to use).  All for the best picture to be the one that I took . . . with . . . my iPhone.

::collapses in a highly dramatic fashion::

Whatever, yo. I got the shot, and that’s all that matters. Now, I can share with you the deliciousness of this sweet potato and bacon breakfast hash! And, it’s definitely a recipe worth sharing. It’s slightly sweet, slightly spicy, slightly smokey, nice and cheesy , and it’s topped off with a perfectly cooked egg (in my mind, a perfectly cooked egg equates to one with a runny yolk, but if that is not your thing, feel free to envision your perfectly cooked egg any ole way you like).  Also, it’s pretty simple to throw together, and it is highly customizable (you can sub the monterey jack cheese for cheddar, pepper jack, provolone or mozzarella, and you can sub the bacon for spicy breakfast sausage, chorizo, or even black beans). Seriously, what more can you ask for from a breakfast recipe?

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 sweet potatoes, cut into cubes
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 6 strips of bacon
• 1/2 cup (or more!) monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 tbsp vegetable oil
• cilantro, chopped for garnish
• 2 green onions, chopped for garnish

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. While the oven is preheating, clean the sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Coat the sweet potatoes in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and season with cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper.
3. Spread the seasoned potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, put them in the oven and allow to bake for 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender, stirring once in the middle of the baking process.
4. At this time, cook the bacon. You can either fry your bacon or bake it. I prefer to bake my bacon, because I don’t have to attend to it while it’s cooking, and it allows me to cook the bacon at the same time as the sweet potatoes. To bake bacon in the oven, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place a baking rack on the baking sheet. Lay the slices of bacon on the baking rack. (If you don’t have a baking rack, you can lay the bacon directly on the baking sheet. I just prefer using a baking rack because it allows the bacon grease to drain.) The bacon will take approximately 20 minutes to cook in a 400 degree oven. When the bacon is done, remove from pan and roughly chop or slice (whatever you prefer).
5. When the sweet potatoes and bacon are done, remove from the oven. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees; you will need it at this temperature to bake the breakfast hash at the end.
6. While you wait for the sweet potatoes and bacon to cook, chop the remaining vegetables and shred your cheese. (If you are like me and bought pre-shredded cheese, you can skip this cheese shredding step. Hi-five!)
7. Next, add 3 tbsp of vegetable oil to a cast iron pan (or some other oven-safe pan) and heat on medium heat. Add the chopped red peppers, chopped red onions, and chopped jalapeno peppers to the pan, and season with salt. Cook for a few minutes until the veggies are tender.
8. Add the chopped bacon and sweet potatoes to the pan. Stir until all the ingredients are combined, and cook for a few minutes to ensure that everything is heated through. Remove the pan from the heat. If you want to serve this breakfast in individual serving pans or ramekins (as I did), this is the point where you divide and scoop out the potato/veggie filling into their individual containers.
9. Top the hash with shredded cheese, and create little holes in the mixture to put your eggs. Crack each egg into its respective hole, season to taste with salt and pepper, and then bake the hash in a 375 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until the egg whites have set. If you want your egg yolks to be cooked through, then cook the eggs for longer. (I would imagine they would cook through if left in the oven for 5 additional minutes. I’m not sure though because I like a runny egg and have never intentionally left it in that long.)
10. Remove from oven, garnish with green onions and cilantro. Take in the beauty of the whole thing. Pat yourself on the back. Shed a tear. Enjoy!

xoxo,