A Tale Of Two Sweet Potatoes

I don't recall ever eating sweet potatoes when I was younger. I was probably in my late 20s before I tried one (I'm not counting sweet potato casserole at a relatives house for Thanksgiving, either). Darned shame, if you think about it. Sweet, savory, healthy goodness rolled in to one convenient package. Usually I roast them in the pan, along with regular potatoes for The Aussie, when I roast meats. A trick I learned from one of my Donna Hay cookbooks is to place the meat on a rack above the pan. The potatoes cook in the meat drippings. Sweet potatoes get browned on the bottom but are still soft. The white potatoes turn golden brown and crispy all over. Totally drool-worthy. A while back, one of my foodie friends mentioned curried sweet potato hash. Curry+Sweet Potatoes=Awesome. I've tweaked my version a bit to use what spices I have on hand. Served with a fried or poached egg on top, it's nothing short of delicious.

Curried Sweet Potato and Two Pepper Hash (6 servings - 4 WW+pts/serving)

2 T of oil (use 1 T for sweet potatoes and the second T for the spices)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 " cubes
salt/pepper to taste
1 t cumin seeds (or fennel seeds, your choice)
1 t coriander seeds
1/2 t ground coriander
1 large onion, diced
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 t curry powder
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T grated ginger root
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2 " pieces
2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced into 1/2 " pieces (and by the love of all that's good and decent, don't rub your face or eyes like I did - they were much hotter than I expected)
juice of half a lemon
fresh cilantro to garnish (optional)

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat for a minute. Add 1 T of oil and swirl around to coat the pan. Add the sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes, try not to stir too much since you want some brown on them, until they're just getting softened. This may take about 10 minutes or so. Remove the potatoes from the pan and set aside. Scrape any stuck bits off the pan with a spatula or paper towel.

Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining oil. Add in the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds to the pan and cook for a minute. Add in the diced onion, red pepper flakes, ground coriander and the curry powder, stirring well. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened.

Stir in the garlic, ginger, red bell pepper and poblano peppers and cook for a few minutes. Add back in the sweet potatoes, mixing them with the peppers. Squeeze in your lemon juice and stir. Turn the heat down and cover. Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. This may take about 8 more minutes.

While the hash finishes cooking, heat up a skillet to fry some eggs to serve on top of the hash. When the hash is done, spoon out on to plates, top with the eggs and garnish with cilantro. This is delicious and filling and works for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Salud!