October 17: Chili-Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs and Fresh Tomato Salsa

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound bulk breakfast sausage, such as maple sausage
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed clean, cut in half lengthwise, and thinly sliced into half-moons
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
   Salt and freshly ground back pepper
3 vine-ripe yellow tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
   Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup grated Manchego or extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 large eggs

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the breakfast sausage and break it up with the back of a wooden spoon into little chunks; brown the sausage for 3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and three fourths of the chopped red onions to the sausage, season with chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper, stir frequently, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and tender.

While the hash is cooking, in a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, jalapenos, the remaining chopped red onions, the cilantro, lime juice, and a little salt and pepper.

Once the hash is cooked, add the chopped parsley, stir to combine, and transfer the hash to a serving platter. Sprinkle with the cheese and cover with aluminum foil; the cheese will melt while you make the fried eggs.

Wipe clean the skillet you made the hash in, return it to the cooktop over medium-high heat, and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, crack each of the eggs into the skillet, season with a little salt and pepper, and fry to desired doneness. The eggs may, of course, be scrambled as well. As you like it!

Transfer the fried eggs to the top of the hash, sprinkle with the fresh tomato salsa, and serve.

4 SERVINGS

This is one of those recipes that really doesn't look very pretty (especially if you scramble the eggs in the dirty skillet), and it really looks like it will taste bad. But I really liked it, and so did my husband. It probably would have been prettier if I had fried the eggs, but DH said if I had done that he would have left to go get take-out. The funny thing about these egg meals of RR's ("Another B, L, or D meal: good for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner" is what she says) is that we always end up eating all of it between the 4 of us. I just have a 1/2 bowl of salsa left over because it's too spicy for the girls and DH doesn't like it because of the tomatoes. That's the only thing I did differently was to use red tomatoes. I have never seen a yellow tomato in any grocery store. I'm starting to think RR made them up and they don't really exist.