Sweet Potato Hash with Red Onions

I made this dish as one of the sides for our New Year’s Resolution Party over the weekend. There are two ways to prepare the sweet potatoes for this dish- as a mash or a hash, and I’ll go over both in this recipe.  As you can probably guess, the mash has a much creamier texture, and is a perfect setting as a bed for whatever protein you’d like to add to the meal.  The hash is a bit more along the lines of a traditional breakfast side starch, but either way, you’ll still get a great tasting dish.  It gives a little bit more of a variety than just eating your sweet potatoes straight out of the skin with some runny side up eggs, and you can always double or triple the recipe to save some for later in the week.  The reddish purple of the onion combined with the orange of the sweet potato has a nice color to it, and can make almost any ordinary meal look immediately more appealing.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tbsp walnut oil
• 1 large red onion, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions for Sweet Potato Mash:

1. Pour 3 cups of water into a large pot over high heat and wait until the water starts to boil.
2. Carefully dump the sweet potato chunks into the water, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
3. Drain the sweet potatoes in a colander, sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice on top, and set aside.
4. Place a large non-stick skillet over high heat, and add the walnut oil after the pan has started to get hot, about three to five minutes depending on your range.
5. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the onions and sauté them until they have started to become translucent.
6. Add the sweet potatoes, mixing and occasionally stirring for another five minutes.
7. Serve immediately!

Directions for Sweet Potato Hash:

1. Place a large non-stick skillet over high heat, and add the walnut oil after the pan has started to get hot, about three to five minutes depending on your range.
2. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the onions and sauté them until they have started to become translucent.
3. Add the sweet potatoes, mixing and occasionally stirring for another 10-15 minutes.  Your sweet potatoes will get a nice slight crust to some of the pieces, but won’t turn complete into a mash.
4. Serve immediately!

Not too difficult, right?  It’s a little more effort than just nuking a sweet potato for a few minutes, but if you’re like me and you eat them every day, a little bit of variety goes a long way.  You can also add 1 tsp of quickly chopped rosemary to the skillet, which gives the sweet potatoes a slightly more complex flavor.  You could also add 1 tsp of fresh chopped mint instead of the rosemary and get even more out of this recipe.

It’s a little difficult to ascertain the exact Zone amounts of this dish, but I’d say a cup of this is roughly 4 blocks of carbs and four to five blocks of fat.  Completely paleo, vegetarian, and vegan as well, although the hash will give vegans and vegetarians a bit more strengthening with their jaws.  Try some of the variants and let me know how it works out for you!