Good @ Any Time: Sweet Potato & 2 Pepper hash with Fried Egg & Avocado

Growing up in Bangladesh, my first glimpses of America came from comics (I was tight with Archie & the gang), movies and tv shows and somewhere along the way I became enamoured with diners.

When I arrived in America, I sought out a real-live diner and there I discovered the joys of crispy hashbrowns, creamy sausage gravy over fluffy buttermilk biscuits, eggs dancing with spicy salsa. All the while, I soaked in the conversations going on all around me: men & women, young & old sharing laughs and stories over coffee and pie. It was the ultimate American experience.

Much of my college career centered around diners --early morning breakfasts after late night parties, cram sessions, dates, girl-talks. Then I graduated and landed my first full-time reporting job.

Single-Asian-Female alone in the wilds of West Texas. I love a good adventure, but I couldn't help feeling a bit lost. So I sought out a diner. The waitress called me "Honey" and all the old guys flirted with me. My first bite sealed the deal and I stayed.

Four years later, just as I got ready to leave West Texas, I met the Cowboy. One Texas-tornado of a romance later, we got married. Both history buffs, we chose the stables of Fort Concho as the venue. The director, a friend of ours, let us spend our wedding night in the restored Officer's Quarter One. Unfortunately, I'd heard one too many ghost stories about that place and didn't sleep a wink (okay, stop snickering y'all). Anyhoo, 5 a.m. in the morning we ended up in a diner sharing our first breakfast as Mr. & Mrs.

My love affair with diner food continues to this day. What's there not to love? Good diner meals are simple, good and comforting. When I crave some but can't go out to a diner, I try to whip up something close in my kitchen...of course, with a Rashda twist.

Sweet Potato & 2 Pepper Hash with Fried Egg & Avocado

3 Tablespoons of oil (reserve 1 tablespoon for later use)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & diced into 1/2-inch cubes
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons panchphoron (you could replace that with 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or anything you prefer)
1/2 large onion, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 large sweet red bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large poblano pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons of lemon juice or water
4 eggs
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
Home-made or store-bought salsa

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tblsp of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sweet potatoes. Season them with salt and pepper. Try to get the potatoes in a single layer and don't over-stir so that you get nice browning. But keep an eye on them & the stirrer handy, since you don't want them to burn to black. If you're happy with the caremelization, feel free to sprinkle some water to help with the cooking.

2.When the potatoes are 3/4 cooked, take the pan off the heat. I usually put them in a paper towel lined bowl and set aside.

3.Clean off the pan with another paper towel and get ready for some desi cooking. We Bengalis call this technique baghar, Indians often refer to it as tarka, but it involves cooking the spices in hot oil and adding it to the almost finished dish for a final pop of flavor.

4.Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in the skillet.

5. Add the spice seeds and cook for about a minute.

6. Add the onions, and when that starts softening add in the red pepper flakes and ground spices. Cook for about three minutes until well mixed (again, if sticking sprinkle some water on it).

7. Toss in the garlic, ginger, red bell pepper and poblano. Cook for about five minutes.

8. Return the sweet potatoes to the pan, sprinkle with two tablespoons of lemon juice or water and finish cooking until the potatoes are done. Set aside.

9. Fry up your eggs, slice up the avocado (a big round of applause to the Cowboy for helping so we could have every thing ready at about the same time).

10. Plate up your hash, egg and avocado. Sprinkle with cilantro (if using) and serve with a side of salsa. I try to be seasonal in my food and beverage choices...and this was perfectly accompanied by a cold bottle of Shiner Spring Ale. :)

Variations: I considered adding some breakfast sausage to the hash, but decided the egg was protein enough. And I left out any kind of bread because, well, the sweet potatoe is the starch. For a heartier meal, I'd add those in.

To finish up, instead of pie I'm offering you the poem Breakfast by Minnie Bruce Pratt. Happy reading & eating!

To my #Letslunch friends: Sorry, I know I had you thinking quiche...but then I stumbled onto a #spicechat and got inspired to make some sweet potato hash instead.

Some of the other breakfast for lunch posts by #Letslunch pals:

Cinnamon Roll French Toast Sticks

Okra Coins with Fried Eggs & Biscuit

Frittata Salad

Holiday Side: Festive Green Beans with a taste of Bengal, a touch of curry

Panch Phoron, is a spice blend, close to my heart.

The sizzle and sputter of the spices in hot oil, the savory-sweet scent released into the air, transports me back to my childhood home in Bangladesh. The name translates to “five spices” in the Bengali language and consists of equal measures of fenugreek (methi), nigella seed (kalo jeera), cumin (jeera), black mustard (shorsha), and fennel (mouri). It is almost exclusively found in the kitchen of cooks with roots in the Bengali culture, usually from Bangladesh, Assam, West Bengal and Orissa. The seeds are left whole so the flavors change from bite to bite, yet all five work together like fingers on a hand.

So for my first Let’s Lunch post, I decided to reach for this old favorite and create a holiday side bursting with color and taste.

My mother uses panch phoron to transform simple dishes of vegetable, lentils or fish to swoon-worthy delicacies. Just a whiff of the earthy fragrance makes my mouth water. So I paired this with green beans, butternut squash and red bell peppers.

The first step is to cook the spice blend in hot oil for a minute or two. The heat should make the spices pop and liberate their essential oils and aroma. This is a process known as “phoron” or “baghar” in Bengali.

The first veggie added in the squash, because it would take the longest to cook. I also tossed in a bit of turmeric, cayenne, and ground cumin – ingredients traditionally found in curries of the Indian-subcontinent. My mother would shake her head here, but hey, I’m a girl who likes to add her own twist.

Part way through the cooking, I add the tomatoes.  I also keep some water at hand and add splashes here and there to prevent sticking.  All these kitchen tips and tricks were learned at my mom’s side. Thanks mom!

When the squash is half-cooked, add in green beans and garlic. Save the bell peppers for the last five minutes. The vegetables should be just done, still bright with color.

Not your traditional green bean casserole, but an exotic alternative. My DH, the Cowboy, has already declared it a winner and requested it for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Maybe it’ll become a new tradition, perfect for our East-West household.

This post has been brought to you thanks to the Lets Lunch bunch, a group of food enthusiasts from all over, who come together to share recipes, stories, friendship and virtual lunch in cyberspace. To give full credit, actually this entire blog came into existence because I wanted to join in the fun and this group was the kick-in-the-rear I needed (I know, waaay late to the party…but here). So thanks #Letslunch pals, this one’s for you.

Check out some of the other Lets Lunch holiday sides:

The Kitchen Trials' Parker House Rolls

Free Range Cookies' Green Bean Casserole 

Cooking in the Fruit Bowl's Kimchi Risotto Bake

The Cowgirl Chef's Mushroom-Leek Quinoa Salad

If you'd like to join Let's Lunch, go to Twitter and post a message with the hashtag #Letslunch

Recipe: Festive Green Beans with a taste of Bengal, a touch of curry

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons panch phoron (you can buy the mix in Indian grocery stores, online, or make your own)

½ a medium onion, sliced lengthwise

1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and slivered

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced (I kept them on the small side to cook faster)

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne powder (or more if you like heat)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

¾ teaspoon salt

2 to 3 Roma tomatoes, diced (juice and all)

12-ounces green beans, washed and trimmed

3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (I actually pound mine into an almost-paste)

1 red bell pepper, cleaned and diced into 1-inch pieces

Directions

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat

Add the panch phoron and cook for a minute or two. When it becomes fragrant, add in onion and ginger, cook until onion is soft and translucent.

Add in the butternut squash and the curry spices (turmeric to salt), stir and cook for about a minute or two (this cuts the raw flavor of the spices), add the tomatoes and cook some more. If your spices start sticking to the bottom of the pan, add splashes of water as needed (just enough to keep cooking and prevent burning).

When the butternut is half-done, add the green beans and garlic. Stir gently and cook for three minutes.

Add the bell pepper and cook another five minutes, or until the veggies are just done.

Enjoy!