Sweet Potato Chorizo Kale Breakfast Hash

A healthy, filling breakfast with spicy chorizo and sweet potatoes with bright and unexpected citrus.

Why do we always skimp on breakfast? I know everyone's in a rush, but think about how awesome it would be to sit down to something like THIS to start your day. I mean in total honesty, we work from home and I make the same 3 things all the time (smoothie, egg wrap with salsa, Icelandic yogurt and fruit). After we made this breakfast sweet potato chorizo hash, I felt like I wanted to do better breakfasts. At the time of writing this, um, it hasn't happened. But I'm making a concerted effort to make something different, and especially something with more vegetables that isn't a smoothie (Girl, I will green smoothie the life out of you if I have the chance).  

And that brings us to breakfast hash. Without eggs if you can believe it. We're starting with a base of sweet potatoes which are a touch more difficult to crisp than standard potatoes. It's a lot of waiting and NOT TOUCHING THE POTATOES. Which is hard because all you want to do is TOUCH SAID POTATOES. You can't get a sear that way, so stop it. No touchie. In our house we go through sweet potato phases where we make them and remember how amazing they are roasted or baked or cooked like this and then forget for a few weeks and then have them dominate our menus once again. Paired with a touch of heat (chorizo and red pepper flakes today) it's the best balance.

We've also added some kale to this recipe (click bait...completely kidding but it always does help sell a recipe these days). Not only does it add more protein and nutrition, but it tones down how actually sweet the sweet potatoes are. And the color. I'm not going to lie, the color rounds it out. Kale is also still readily available in many farmers markets, even here in Virginia where as someone said to me recently there are "Three things at the farmers markets right now: kale, beets and turnips". 

When it comes to explaining the oranges in all of this, I know that's probably a bit of an eyebrow raiser. Citrus...in a vegetable and chorizo mix..... But it works and here's why: citrus is of course, in season right now. It adds moisture to what's essentially a salad without "dressing". It cuts through the heft of the chorizo and the strong sweet potato flavor. In short, it's a balancer. It really ties everything in together and tones down or elevates what we need it to. I really found myself making sure I had little bites of orange in all of my composed bites (you know, where you stab around with your fork to get one of everything. It's a technical, professional term.).

Now to jump back a second and address the issue of time, there are totally ways to hack this to make it a faster breakfast. First: prep your potatoes in advance. Pre-chop maybe two or three days worth of the sweet potatoes. As you'll see in the recipe directions, after they're chopped, they go in the microwave for a quick cook, get drained and then go on the skillet. Having the potatoes ready to go (peeled and chopped and pre-portioned) will save you the bulk of the work required. After that, it's all skillet waiting time. 

SWEET POTATO CHORIZO KALE BREAKFAST HASH

serves 2

/// Ingredients /// 

• 2 Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 1 large orange (small wedges, peel removed)

• 2 stalks kale (stalks removed, thinly shredded, 1/4” wide)

• 2 links chorizo (cut on diagonal)

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1/8 teaspoon or less red pepper flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 Tablespoon veg oil

• fresh Thyme

• Salt to taste

/// Directions ///  After cubing the sweet potatoes, place a small amount of water (scant tablespoon) in a bowl with the the potatoes. Microwave for 2-1/2 minutes or until the insides are almost cooked. Heat a tablespoon of oil to Medium High heat on a cast iron skillet or pan of choice. Drain the water from the sweet potatoes. When the oil starts to swirl add the sweet potatoes  Make sure the potatoes are spaced out in a single layer. Allow the sweet potatoes to form a crust before flipping to another side. If you flip too early and often you can damage the cubes and they will become mashed. Add salt and chili powder and stir when they are almost finished browning.

After slicing the chorizo , place into a medium sized skillet over medium heat. As moisture is released from the sausage, add the shallots and red pepper flakes. Once the chorizo browns, add the kale at the very end. Toss pan contents together.

To serve: place the hash on the bottom layer. Top with the sausage shallot mixture and add citrus and fresh thyme on top.

Note: Since sausage is already a pretty high source of sodium, use a blend of 50% MSG, 50% salt which can reduce your sodium content by about 40%!