Paleo Sweet Potato Waffles

Is t weird that I have breakfast for dinner like once a week? And by breakfast, I mean I make a savory dish and throw an egg on top of it and call it a day. A little look into my life, as a creature of habit, I have the same thing for breakfast every single day. A hard-boiled eg and coffee. But I have been trying to mix it up as of late, and even had oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon this week (I basically don't recognize myself). But I have to have at least an egg a day. So if it isn't what starts my day, it's what I end my day with. Eggs for dinner. That's my new habit. And coming from a girl who refused to eat eggs in any way, shape, or form as a kid, that's saying a lot. 

These sweet potato waffles are delicious on their own, but adding a sunny-side up egg (or a fried would be just as yummy!), you add some creaminess and added protein to the dish. Plus you can never go wrong with guac and hot sauce. Because guac is life, obvi. Feel free to make the paleo version, or use whatever flour and/or seasonings you prefer if you are not following the paleo lifestyle. 

Paleo Sweet Potato Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups shredded sweet potato
• 2 tbsp. coconut flour (can use all-purpose of whole wheat for non-paleo)
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 batch homemade guacamole
• 4 eggs
• hot sauce (optional)

Preheat a waffle maker while you prepare the "batter".

In a medium bowl, mix together the sweet potato, almond flour, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. 

Fill the waffle maker with the mixture and press down firmly, and cook until crispy and browned. Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 waffles. Place in the oven to keep warm.

Fry up your eggs any way you like them, I prefer sunny side up, and serve atop hot waffles and a side of guacamole and hot sauce. 

Shrimp, Potato & Bacon Chowder

I just had to make one last soup recipe before the weather gets too hot here in the southwest. Being in a landlocked state, I'm always a little hesitant about purchasing seafood at the supermarket (read: farm-raised crap), but I found wild caught Mexican shrimp at my local farmers market last week and knew it needed to make its way into a hearty soup. This soup. Creamy potatoes, fresh chopped shrimp, and crispy bacon all play a great role in this dinner/leftovers for lunch the next day. Feel free to use any type of potatoes you like, new potatoes, red potatoes, and russet are all great options!

Shrimp, Potato & Bacon Chowder

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup half & half
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb. wild caught raw shrimp, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 tsp. hot sauce
• 1 green onion, sliced

In a large pot, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until browned. Remove the bacon with a slitted spoon and place onto a paper towel to drain. Place the pot back onto the stove and cook the onions in the bacon grease.

Once the onions have softened slightly, about 3 minutes, add in the potatoes, broth, half & half, wine, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to a low simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionally. 

Once the potatoes are soft, add in the hot sauce and the shrimp and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the shrimp is cooked and heated through.

Serve hot, garnish with green onions and bacon. 

Paleo Eggs Benedict

Paleo week continues with a breakfast dish sure to please everyone! Coming up with new and fresh ideas for meals is a bit challenging at times, especially when you finally come up with one and the lighting is poor, limiting your photo capabilities. But nonetheless, I just HAD to share this recipe with you. It's my paleo take on my favorite breakfast meal; Eggs Benedict. Take a crispy latke made up of sweet potato as your bread, then replace the standard ham slice with some sugar-free bacon, and top with creamy avocado instead of hollandaise, and the best part, a runny poached egg. Oh and hot sauce! If you've got a stubborn bread-eater in your house, simply place an english muffin or slice of toast on the bottom to satisfy their needs. See, pleasing everyone! 

Paleo Eggs Benedict

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and shredded
• 3 green onions, green part only, sliced
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 tbsp. high-heat oil (such as avocado oil)
• 2 small avocado, pitted
• 4-6 slices, nitrate free bacon, baked or fried
• 4 eggs, poached
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot sauce for garnish

In a medium mixing bowl, add the shredded potato, green onions (save some for garnish if you would like), garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix together with your hands and form into patties.

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. of the oil in a large pan and cook the patties, 4 in each bach as not to crowd the pan. Cook until dark brown on both sides, about 2 minutes on each side, remove from skillet and keep warm while you cook the next batch. Repeat.

Meanwhile, mash the avocado in a small bowl seasoned with salt and pepper and poach the eggs.

To assemble, place 1 to 2 sweet potato patties on the plate. Top with bacon, then a dollop of the avocado smash and lastly, an poached egg. garnish with more green onions and hot sauce.

Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Noodle Stir Fry

Food. That's why we're all here reading this right? Unless you stumbled upon my page after scouring the internet for hours and thought, "oh, a blog about hot dogs, this should be interesting", yet when you got here you realized, "wait this doesn't have anything to do with hot dogs", and except for the occasional recipe, you are correct. It's a play on words people, work with me here!  But we're all basically here for the food. Sometimes that food makes us groggy and weighed down with all of the dairy and breads in the world (my 2 favorite food groups btw). So this past week I have been dabbling in the wide-world of paleo. I have gone 8 days without processed sugar, dairy, or grains (except for the one little indulgence on Friday night. Worth it). All of my nutrients are coming from fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs. And I am by no means a nutritionist or health coach so please take my week with a grain of salt (aka I have no idea what I'm doing). I simply found a 2-week plan with menus laid out daily and have been following it rather strictly. You know what they say, believe everything you read online... sense the sarcasm. Anywho, I have put my HDFB twist on some of the recipes and you don't have to be paleo to consume this tasty dish. It's perfect for all ages and eater-types (is that a thing?), I swear sweet potato noodles have become a new food group for me!

Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Noodle Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1/4 all natural almond butter
• 2 tbsp. liquid aminos (can substitute for soy sauce)
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1-2 tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce
• 1/2 tbsp. honey (leave out if paleo)
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. sesame oil, divided
• 3/4 cup unsweetend almond milk
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 lb. chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• sliced green onions for garnish
• freshly chopped cilantro for garnish
• chopped peanuts for garnish

Add the almond butter, liquid aminos, ginger, garlic, Sriracha, honey, 1 tsp. sesame oil, and almond milk into a mason jar and shake will to mix. Set aside.

Spiralize your sweet potatoes and set aside. 

Heat 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until no pink remains. Set cooked chicken aside.

Add in the remaining 1/2 tbsp. oil to the skillet, then cook the broccoli and red bell pepper for 2 minutes. Add in the spiralized sweet potato noodles and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the sauce that you made earlier as well as the cooked chicken.

Stir to mix and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the noodles are softened, but still sightly firm. Garnish and serve hot.  

Homemade Gnocci

Gnocci has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Like, how they get those doughy pillows to be so fluffy and light, yet dense enough to hold a bit of a bite? I found out the secret to homemade gnocci, is actually no secret at all. After a little research on different methods on homemade gnocci, I decided to go the mashed potato route. I love having mashed potatoes in my house, so what better reason to make the deliciously buttery, creamy side dish. That, plus a couple of other household staples like an egg and flour, and you are on your way to rolling homemade gnocci. 

Homemade Gnocci

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups leftover cold mashed potatoes
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt

Add 1/2 cup flour to your clean work surface. Add the mashed potatoes on top of the flour and create a well in the middle. Add the egg. Then sprinkle with salt and add the other 1/2 cup of flour on top.

Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until smooth. Sprinkle a little more flour if the mixture is too wet (be careful not to add too much). Knead the dough 5 or so times and form into a ball. Cut the ball into 4 even-sized pieces.

Take each piece and roll it out into a 1/2-inch thick rope. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cut the dough ropes into 1/2-inch thick pieces.

Roll each piece of dough down a large fork to create ridges (this gives all the yummy sauce something to cling onto).

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the gnocci to the water. Once they float to the top they are fully cooked. Drain and then serve with your favorite pesto, marinara, or cheese sauce. 

**If you plan on freezing these for future use, add the gnocci to a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with flour. Pop into the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Add to a large ziplock bag and freeze. To serve, remove from freezer and add to boiling water. Do not allow them to thaw. 

Chipotle Corn Mashed Potatoes

It's Day 3 of Southwestern Thanksgiving here at HDFB, and what is any Thanksgiving dinner without mashed potatoes? They are basically a food group in my house, and I just had to add a little kick of flavor to them this year with some roasted corn and smoky chipotle chiles in adobo. Plus, how adorable is that turkey serving bowl? I love themed serving ware! The secret to perfectly creamy mashed potatoes is to warm the milk and butter together before adding them into the potatoes. Cold milk and butter, just cools the hot mashers, and make for a gummy end product. Also, I love to use a hand mixer to break up the potatoes a bit before adding the milk and butter. Makes the process so easy and seamless. 

Chipotle Corn Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 6 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups corn (I used canned since fresh are not in season)
• 1 chipotle in adobo
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add in the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Remove from the heat. Also, heat the butter and milk in a saucepan until warm. 

Drained the potatoes and add back into the hot pot. Use a hand mixer to break up the potatoes. Slowly add in the melted butter and milk, while mixing until smooth. Add in the corn and chipotle pepper, season with salt and pepper, then stir until combined. 

Serve hot. 

Sweet Potato Noodles with Corn, Black Beans & Chipotle Crema

I have a new obsession. My spiralizer. I will admit that I almost accepted defeat with it the first couple of times I tried to use it (cucumber bits EVERYWHERE), but once I got the hang of it I fell in looooooove. There's no way that vegetable noodles will ever be able to replace classic pasta noodles in my mind, but I love the flexibility and the numerous options that my spiralizer gives me. Especially since I plan on looking svelte in my wedding dres,s and pasta and cheese don't really go hand in hand with that plan. I got this recipe from the Inspiralized website, which features more recipe ideas than I could ever imagine, making eating your veggies ridiculously easy, and delicious to boot!

Sweet Potato Noodles with Corn, Black Beans, and Chipotle Crema
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 ears of corn, shucked
• 2 tbsp. olive oil, separated
• 3/4 tsp. paprika
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
• 1-2 tbsp. mayo or sour cream
• 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your grill over medium-high heat. Drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil and grill on all sides, until slightly charred. Remove from the grill, cut the kernels from the cobb and toss the cooked kernels with the black beans, paprika, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, run the sweet potatoes, 1 at a time, through your vegetable spiralizer. Heat the remaining tbsp. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add in the sweet potato noodles and toss with the garlic and oil, cooking the noodles for 8-10 minutes, until softened.

To make the chipotle crema, blend the avocado, chipotle, mayo/sour cream, and 1 juiced lime in a food processor until smooth.

To plate, add the noodles to 4 shallow bowls or plates. Top with the  black bean/corn mixture, then drizzle the chipotle crema over the top. Garnish with fresh cilantro and sliced jalapenos. Serve with lime quarters.

This recipe post was not sponsored, all opinions are my own. 

Summer Veggie Hash with Fried Eggs

You guys. Can we just talk about this weekend? Some of my all-time favorite people, aka my sorority sisters, came into town for a fellow sister's wedding. And. things. got. real. We stayed out til 1am, not once, but 2 nights in a row {who am I?}. We sang our hearts out at our favorite college dueling piano bar. We went back to campus for old time's sake. We danced til our feet were numb at the beautiful wedding of the new Mr. & Mrs. Irwin, and serenaded our lovely uber driver Fransicso {sorry about your ears} with some Avril Lavigne. After a weekend of indulging, it is back to routine life, and much earlier bed times. To re-set my metabolism and flush out any remaining wine toxins, I made this fresh summer veggie hash for breakfast. I realize I have already made something similar, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Summer Veggie Hash with Fried Eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tbsp. avocado oil, divided
• 1 sweet potato or yam, skin removed and chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, stems and seeds removed, then minced
• kernels removed from 1 corn on the cob
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 green onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2-4 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot sauce for garnish

Preheat 1 tbsp. oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the sweet potato and toss to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Add in the bell peppers, jalapeno, corn, garlic, and onion. Cook for another 5 minutes until the veggies are browned. 

In a separate skillet, heat the 1/2 tbsp. of oil over high heat and fry up the eggs. Cooking for 2 minutes for over-easy. 

Serve the hash with fried eggs on top, garnish with cilantro and a dash of hot sauce.

Brussels Sprout Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs

Is there anything that Brussels Sprouts aren't good in? If there is, I have yet to find it, and even then I would probably find them delicious. I just can't seem to get enough of them, and have been sneaking them into as many things as I can before Andrew calls a Brussels timeout. I made this breakfast for us last weekend, which happened to be our first weekend off together in a month. I wanted to make something that was no fuss, that we could just enjoy together while we sipped our coffee at the table together and talked about weekend things like, where we were going to dinner that night with friends, what we should watch while we lounged on the couch, and only a couple of wedding details. The nice thing is, that if you don't like Brussels Sprouts (what is wrong with you?), that you won't even notice that they are there. Because they are sliced so thin, they don't have an overbearing flavor and you can all enjoy breakfast together!!

Brussels Sprout Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil (can substitute bacon fat, or combination of both)
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb. brussels spouts, ends trimmed and thinly sliced
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
• 4 farm fresh eggs
• salt and pepper taste
• hot sauce for serving

Heat the bacon fat or olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or cast-iron pan. Once the oil is hot add in the sweet potato and the onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally for 6-7 minutes until beginning to soften. Add in the thinly sliced brussels and toss well. Add in more oil at this point if you think you might need it. Cook, tossing occasionally, for another 5 minutes. 

Add in the bacon and toss well. Create 4 wells in the pan and crack an egg into each one. Lower the heat to medium-low, careful not to leave it on too high or the bottom might burn. Cook until the eggs are set to your liking. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot with coffee and hot sauce.

Beer Braised Chuck Roast with Balsamic

Pot roast is a dish that brings me back to childhood. It was something easy that my mom could throw into the crock pot and then forgot about for hours while she drove me and my brother around to endless school, dance, soccer, basketball, violin, choir, baseball practices like our very own limo driver. Only our limo was a massive Ford Expedition with a lift kit and the muffler removed, so you could here her driving through the neighborhood, signaling us to stop whatever it was that we weren't supposed to be doing. Well, this my friends is not exactly my mother's pot roast. I slowly braised my chuck roast in a little bit of balsamic vinegar for sweetness and beer, thus adding all of the possible flavors. 

Beer Braised Chuck Roast with Balsamic

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. boneless chuck roast
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 red onion, largely chopped
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups beer (I used Four Peaks Kiltlifter), or broth of choice
• 3 fresh sprigs of thyme
• 4 large carrots, peeled and halved
• 8-10 baby potatoes

Preheat the oil in a large oven safe pot over high heat. Season the roast on both sides with salt and pepper and then sear in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes on each side until nice and brown. Remove the seared roast and set on a large plate to rest while you cook the onions.

Lower the heat to medium and add the onions to the hot oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add in the balsamic vinegar and cook, stirring often as the vinegar reduces down into a syrup-like texture and absorbs into the onions; about 2-3 minutes. 

Add the roast back into the pot, then pour the beer around the beef. Add the thyme sprigs and cover the pot. Add to a 300 degree oven and cook for 3 hours until the meat is cooked through and tender.

Add in the carrots and potatoes, re-cover and cook for another 60 minutes until the beef is easy to shred with a fork and the veggies are tender. Serve hot. 

Garlic Smashed Crispy Potatoes

I have confession to make. Sometimes when I go out to eat at a restaurant, I don't particularly like any of the entree options, and I just want to order a couple of the side dishes. Thus making a complete meal. Of course, I don't do this. But boy do I want to. Maybe that's why I like going for sushi so much, because it's just a never ending train of side plates filled with just the right amount of something before moving onto the next. At home I am perfectly fine whipping up some simple chicken breasts seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper as long as there is a good side dish to go along with it. That's where these crispy smashed potatoes come into play. They are so simple to throw together, and who doesn't like a smooth potato baked to a perfect crisp? It's the best of both worlds. 

Garlic Smashed Crispy Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. small baking potatoes
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. Italian herb seasoning

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer, cooking until soft, about 10-12 minutes. 

Drain potatoes and place onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Using a flat sided spatula, press down firmly on the potatoes until flattened to about 1/2-inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, and seasoning in a small bowl, the drizzle over the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until crispy.

Serve warm with your favorite main dish. 

Creamy Spiced Chickpea and Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

We've been trying to eat extra healthy as of late since we are back from Hawaii and can't keep living on our eat-every-hour-stuff-our-faces-at-the-buffet diet. After flipping through Seriously Delish for the thousandth time, I decided to make my twist on these baked sweet potatoes filled with hearty chickpeas and greens. I took a tip from my instagram/virtual friend @whatallisonate and made a creamy tahini sauce to go on top. This is a perfect entree for meatless Monday, or use smaller sweet potatoes and make these for a side dish! I don't think we can get much healthier than this before we stuff our faces with Christmas cookies next week!

Creamy Spiced Chickpea and Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 14.5-oz. can chickpeas
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 5 oz. fresh baby spinach
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. tahini
• 1/2 tsp. sriracha hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and pierce the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Bake in the oven until soft, about 50 minutes to an hour. Flip them over half-way through the cooking time.

Once the sweet potatoes have cooked, set them aside to cool slightly while you make the filling.

Heat the coconut oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Add in the chickpeas and season them with the cayenne and nutmeg. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, then add in the spinach. Continue to stir often, allowing the spinach to wilt, another 5-8 minutes.Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, heat the coconut milk, tahini, sriracha, salt, and pepper together. Whisk until combined.

To serve, split the sweet potatoes open, then fill with the chickpea spinach mixture and drizzle with the tahini sauce.

Tuesday Tip: The Perfect Mashed Potatoes. Every. Time.

Mashed potatoes are pretty basic. Potatoes. Milk. Butter. But what if I told you that there was a secret to the perfect mashed potato? Well, actually it is a couple of secrets. But for the sake of time, and your sanity, I am going to lump them all into one post. First of all, the potato makes the mash, so choose wisely. I love yukon golds for mashed potatoes. They are rich in flavor and fall apart easily. Second, make sure to use full fat milk and butter. If you're going to eat potatoes, you might as well enjoy them in all their glory. None of that skim milk and margarine crap. Third, and the most important secret to the perfect mashed potatoes is, drum roll, please. A food mill! I currently own and use this one, and have not been let down. By running the potatoes through the mill, you get a smooth texture, no lumps. Plus you get a nice little arm workout when churning the potatoes. Fool proof. Oh, and one last tip! Don't allow your potatoes to cool before mashing them. They tend to turn gummy. And ain't nobody got time for gummy potatoes!

The Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. yukon gold potatoes, peeled, chopped into 2-inch chunks
• 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: thyme, rosemary, garlic. simply add into the hot potato mash

Add the potatoes to a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Season with the kosher salt and bring to a boil. Once the water has come to a boil, lower to simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until a fork or knife carefully inserted into a potato appears very tender. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the boiling liquid and add the potatoes back into the hot pot. Allow to sit and steam for 1-2 minutes to release any extra liquid. 

Meanwhile, heat the milk and butter over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm throughout. Set aside. 

Add the potatoes to a food mill and run through over a large bowl until all potatoes have been riced and the mixture is smooth. Pour in the hot milk and butter and whip with a large spoon. Season with salt and pepper, or any other add-ins you like. Serve hot with extra butter!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Chicken Wild Grain Rice Bowls

In the words of my boyfriend, "mashed potatoes are good and all, but man, I love a good sweet potato". So, in honor of making him the happiest I can, I have been trying to add sweet potatoes into our routine as much as I can. I might have even put some mashed sweet potato into a quesadilla

the other night. And by might, I mean that I definitely did. My inspiration for this recipe came from Iowa Girl Eats, and to make it an entree instead of a side dish, I added chopped chicken right into it. I have to say that the flavor of the wild grain rice mixture is delicious on its own, but the balsamic vinegar and honey mustard dressing just really adds some oomph to the dish. Plus, you can make a little extra and have some for lunch the next day! 

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Chicken Wild Grain Rice Bowls

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup wild grain rice
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 large bunch of kale, stems removed, then chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled, then chopped
• 1 cup chopped roast chicken
• 2 tbsp. pepitas for garnish

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed 
• salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, bring the chicken broth and the rice up to a boil. Cover and lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the liquid is completely absorbed, according to the box directions. 

Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. 

In a large skillet, bring the water to a simmer and add in the kale. Cook for 2 minutes, then drain and set aside. Dry the skillet and add back to the stove. Melt the butter in the skillet, then add the brown sugar. Mix well before adding the chopped sweet potatoes. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are slightly crispy on the outside, but softened on the inside. Turn off the heat. 

Add the rice, kale, and chopped chicken into the skillet with the cooked sweet potatoes. Pour in the dressing and mix well.

Sprinkle some pepitas on top and serve hot. 

Short Rib Breakfast Hash with Poached Eggs

You know when you eat something, something so legendary that you never want it to end. This is one of those things. And even though the title states this as a breakfast hash, I actually made this for dinner, another perfect creation from Seriously Delish. Short ribs are already the perfect delicacy in my book, but then toss with some crispy potatoes and top them with a poached egg, this is the perfect storm. Let's take a minute to talk about poached eggs. After a few you tube video tutorials, my boyfriend and I thought that this was something we could handle. My first attempt was a major fail, as I dropped the egg from too high and it broke into a million pieces in the simmering water. My boyfriend on the other hand is a natural poaching pro. He poached his first egg with finesse and it came out perfectly cooked, slightly runny on the inside, which when broken open over the short rib hash was like a religious experience.

Short Rib Breakfast Hash with Poached Eggs

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs. beef shorts ribs (can be bone-in or boneless)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. flavorless oil (like canola)
• 1 cup beer (I used Four Peaks Kiltlifter)

Hash

• 4 slices applewood smoked bacon, chopped
• 1 sweet yellow, onion, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 yukon gold potatoes, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 4 to 8 large eggs (1-2 per person)
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tbsp. freshly chopped basil
• 1/2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the short ribs with the salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sear the short ribs on all sides, about 1-2 minutes per side until browned all over. 

Remove from heat and add the seared short ribs to your slow cooker/crockpot. Add int he beer and cook on low for 8 hours until the beef shreds easily with a fork. Remove the bones if needed, shred, and set aside while you prepare the hash.

To make the hash, cook the chopped bacon until crispy and brown. Remove the bacon and allow to drain on a paper towel. Add in the onion and bell pepper and allow to soften and cook in the bacon fat (yum!), about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, potatoes, salt, and pepper and stir together. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside; about 10 minutes. Once the potatoes are tender, add in the bacon and the shredded beef ribs and mix until combined.

Serve the poached eggs* atop the breakfast hash and season each egg with a pinch of red pepper flakes and the chopped basil and parsley. 

*To poach an egg, bring a pot of water just up to a simmer, once the water just starts to bubble, lower the temperature slightly and begin making a whirlpool using a spoon or spatula. Crack each egg individually into a small bowl, and slowly lower the egg into the whirlpool of water, careful not to just drop it in. Use a slotted spoon to keep the yolk from sinking to the bottom, and to keep as much of the whites attached as possible (there will be some floaties, do not be discouraged). Allow to cook for 2 minutes before removing with the slotted spoon and placing on a paper towel before serving.