good morning, babes ;)
It’s a lazy Sunday morning at the Friendly Fig household (it’s probably Monday morning for you now). I slept in til 8:30 (this is seriously crazy for me since I am usually up by 5:30) and needed to do something with all my extra potatoes before they went bad.
Side note: Have you ever dealt with a potato that went bad? This happened to me about a year ago and I honestly thought something got into the house and died. I could not figure out where the putrid smell came from to save my life! I actually threw out perfectly fine cat food because I thought maybe it went bad. You can imagine my surprise when I went to grab a potato and the whole basket was wet and the smell – AWFUL. AWFUL!! I cannot even describe it to you! Who knew that one of the best vegetables of all time could turn into THAT? Not me. Glad that I am well aware now… but of course, I am extra paranoid about using potatoes quickly to avoid that happening ever again. I don’t think my nose could handle it AGAIN.
If this is news to you, I am glad I could be the one to tell ya. When I have kids someday, this will be one of their first life lessons – no one prepared me for this, and I think this is a pivotal life lesson. Woo – okay, anyways. Are you turned off yet? Oops.
But no seriously, my potatoes were fine so I decided to make a quick vegan potato hash. I had some extra veggies on hand, so hey – let’s up our homefry game with more nutrients and spices. The end result was pretty spectacular.
Now listen. The secret to getting the best flavor in this dish is to let the veggies burn a bit the bottom and scrap it up. The bottom of my pan was blackened from the spices, but I just kept scraping (hello, arm workout) and tossing. It gives the dish it’s charred look, and definitely adds to the flavor and crispiness.
The Recipe
Serves: 4 people
You will need:
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 2 medium potatoes, cubed small
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4-5 button mushrooms, diced
- 1 tbs turmeric
- 1/2 tbs paprika
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Water
- 1 handful kale, chopped small
To make:
- In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add olive oil, potatoes, onion, and red pepper. Mix well and cover for about 3 minutes – allow to soften.
- Uncover and stir a bit – if potatoes or vegetables start to stick to pan, simply scrap them up – the burnt pieces add to the dish!
- Add mushrooms, turmeric, paprika, red pepper flakes,salt, pepper, and just a bit of water. Stir well and cover again.
- For the next 20 or so minutes, you will continue to uncover, stir a bit, scrape the bottom up, add a little water, and cover again.
- Once everything seems to be cooked and the flavors are married, add your handful of chopped kale, and cover one last time.
- Serve hot!
Like I mentioned above, burnt bottom = good thing. These are probably the tastiest breakfast potatoes that I have ever made, and I definitely think that this technique played a role in that.
As usual, play around with the veggies. I had red pepper, onion, kale, and mushrooms on hand, but I imagine that the following would make great additions or substitutes:
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
You really cannot go wrong with any fresh vegetables. Whether you cook for a vegan or meat-eating household, these will be a definite hit.
Alright, well I am off to get out of my pajamas and ready for the day. I hope you’ll try this vegan variation of home fries, and as usual, have a gorgeous day. xx bianca
