Hash It Up!

I have to admit that the lazy side of me occasionally longs for the days when my meals were comprised of non-perishable, pantry staples. I could get by for weeks without seeing the inside of a grocery store, and I never had to worry about my food going bad before I could get around to eating it. Boy has that changed.

Every weekend Jason and I visit our local farmers' market to obtain our food for the week. We have been trying to plan our weekly meals in advance and buy accordingly, but at this point we just end up with a cornucopia of produce. By the end of the week, I'm left with a random bunch of vegetables that need to be eaten before they go bad. I've gotten better at throwing in a few mushrooms here, a few bell peppers there. But this morning, I cooked a dish that is supposed to include left-overs...a breakfast hash!

The glory of a breakfast hash is that you don't really need a recipe. Just include whatever you have on hand that day.

Dice the Veg
It doesn't matter what veg you use, but be consistent with the size of your dice so everything cooks evenly. I cut mine pretty small because I wanted them to be brown and crunchy.

1 sweet potato, 5 fingerling potatoes, 1 onion, 1/2 zucchini

Season the Veg
Toss the veg in a bowl with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and a seasoning of your choice.

Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle. 

Roast the Veg

Spread the veg on a baking sheet and roast at 425 degree for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of your dice and the desired doneness). Be sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet or the veg won't get nice and brown. Stir the veg at least once halfway through. If you've hit 45 minutes and your veg isn't crispy enough, switch the oven to broil for a few minutes.

Assemble the Hash Burrito
Scoop the roasted veg onto the tortilla of your choice. Top with roasted corn, fresh salsa, and avocado.

Forks were a great invention...

Today Jason and I cooked my parents breakfast for Mother's Day. This was our first time cooking for anyone since becoming vegan, and we went back and forth about whether or not the meal should be completely vegan. If I had a little more cooking practice, we might have gone that route. But I really didn't feel comfortable serving tofu french toast or chickpea omelets to my parents without having tried them myself. And since this meal was to honor my wonderful meat/dairy eating Mom, we decided to bring a traditional egg quiche along for the ride with our other vegan dishes. Our plates were full of colorful plant based foods, and our glasses were full of a little bubbly.

My parents, intrigued with our diet change, asked us questions about becoming vegan. We talked about some of our standby dishes and some of the various cuisines we are interested in right now. The conversation went something like this: Asian cuisine...Japan...tofu in soup...chop sticks...interesting business dinners with chop sticks...forks. To which Dad stated, "Forks were a great invention."

(source)

Dad was right about that (although I stated that sporks were probably a greater invention). But that comment reminded me of the 2011 documentary Forks Over Knives. It was instrumental in turning me on to the vegan diet, and more specifically a whole foods, plant based diet. You can catch the documentary on Netflix or watch the official trailer here. Whether or not you plan to become vegetarian or vegan, no one can dispute the fact that adding more plant based/unprocessed foods to your diet is a healthy thing to do. Also check out the Forks Over Knives cookbook. I highly recommend it.