Gah, why is breakfast just so good?

Most days I eat two breakfasts. One is usually small for pre-workout fuel at 5:30am, such as a muffin, energy ball, half a banana, or a piece of toasted Ezekial bread with nut butter. The other is usually once I settle at my desk anytime between 8-9ish after my morning work routine (six flights of stairs, boot up laptop, check emails, go back down for coffee, and six flights of stairs again). I try and vary what I bring for work breakfasts, but they usually entail some type of cottage cheese or yogurt bowl with varied mix ins or an oatmeal bake. Whatever it is, it always has protein to keep me full throughout the morning.

Despite the whole two breakfasts thing, sometimes I feel like I get cheated out of that big breakfast feel. If Sundays end up being a rest day from the gym for Tim and me, we like to make a sit down breakfast such as protein pancakes or omelettes. There’s just something so nice about rolling out of bed and putting a delicious breakfast together before easing into the day with a cup of coffee, am I right?

Today I want to share one of our latest weekend favorites with you. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1-2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into half inch cubes
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and diced
• 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Half a 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a pot, and fill the pot with enough water to cover the potatoes. Boil for ten minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Once cooked, drain the water, and set the sweet potatoes aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion, and cook 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Add the minced garlic, and cook for another minute.
3. Add the sweet potatoes to the skillet, and then season with the salt, pepper, paprika, and crushed red pepper. Add another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and cook until the sweet potatoes start to crisp, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Next add the diced roasted red pepper, and cook for another 3-5 minutes before adding the chopped cilantro and black beans and cooking for 2-3 more minutes. If you aren’t a cilantro person, just sub parsley or another herb of choice.
5. Finally, add the white wine vinegar to de-glaze the pan a bit. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the vinegar begins to cook off (you shouldn’t be able to smell it anymore).
6. Transfer to a bowl, and then serve under poached eggs, eggs over easy or sunny side up, or as part of a big egg scramble. Enjoy!

I love that this meal is a different spin on your typical ole breakfast hash and uses sweet potatoes in lieu of regular potatoes to make it a little bit healthier. Since I’m not a huge potato person, I never really enjoy ordering hash at a restaurant, but Tim loves it, so this sweet potato breakfast hash gives us the best of both worlds. Adding the black beans and cilantro gives the breakfast a southwestern feel, and the flavors are all just so tasty together, especially when used as a base for eggs.

Despite using paprika and some crushed red pepper, this meal isn’t very spicy, although my spice tolerance has gone way up in the past couple of years. If you wanted to make this spicier, you could add some chili pepper or cayenne.

Like I said, this is becoming our go to weekend meal, both on days we roll out of bed and on mornings that we workout first. It doubles as breakfast and lunch, and the protein from the beans and eggs keeps us full. We’ve also been making this a lot for quick BFD (breakfast for dinner) nights. We meal plan and prep a lot on Sundays, but Wed and Thurs nights sometimes tend to be more throw together meals in our house. This one does this trick!

If you try it out, let me know. Hope you love it!

Readers, let’s chat! What is your usual breakfast routine? What are your thoughts on hash? What is your go to weekend breakfast of choice? Do you ever eat breakfast for dinner? 

Hope your weeks are off to a great start.