In the past couple months, my egg intake has increased dramatically (from maybe 1 per month to 2–3 per week). Maybe it’s all the biking I’ve been doing in place of walking. Maybe it’s the revival of an hour-long daily workout. (If my brain is going to insist that I wake up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, I might as well do something productive!) Either way, my body wants protein. But it also wants to keep things on the healthy side. So when I discovered this hash on my wonderful friend Whitney’s blog last week, it was love at first sight.
This stuff was incredibly tasty! It does require a wee bit of planning ahead if you want to roast the beet. (I’m still a little new to the world of beets, so I’m not sure how this would taste grated raw and pan-fried, along with the carrots—probably about the same.) But that extra 40 minutes of oven time lets you leisurely prep the rest of your ingredients while enjoying another cup of coffee (or perhaps a mimosa!). I was only planning on adding garlic scapes to the dish, but I threw in a handful of corn at the last minute (which turned out to be a delicious decision). If I’d had goat cheese on hand, I might have added it as well. But the lack of the semi-rich flavor of goat cheese kept the taste of the hash nice and light, and I think I will leave it out in the future as well. (Me opting to not put cheese in something? What is going on?)
Poached Eggs over Beet & Carrot Hash
(adapted from Blue Cheese Highways)
yield: 1 serving
- 1 small beet
- 2 small- to medium-sized carrots
- a few garlic scapes
- 1 handful of corn
- 1 egg
Preheat oven to 400°. Stab your beet a few times with a fork, then place it in the oven and roast for 40 minutes.
In the meantime, peel and grate your carrots and dice the garlic scapes. When the beet has finished roasting, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.
Begin heating a couple inches of water in a saucepan (to poach the egg). At the same time, add a little bit of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic scapes and saute for about a minute, then add grated carrot and corn. Continue cooking for another minute or two, then remove from heat and set aside.
Once your pan of water is at the right temperature, add the egg. (For more-detailed instructions on egg-poaching, see this post.) While the egg is cooking, peel and grate your beet. Combine the beet and the carrot mixture on a plate, then top with your poached egg. Add salt and pepper to taste.
And, if you’d like something lovely to listen to while you devour breakfast (and you enjoy the touching stories brought to you through oral history projects like StoryCorps), you can check out this. Sounds & Echos (created by Whitney and several other former StoryCorps members who banded together to form The Recollective) is a collection of six very different stories which all center around music in Buffalo, NY. It is a wonderful project, and hopefully just the first of many. Hurray for Whitney! Keeping our stories alive, and inspiring our delicious breakfast.
I’m with you on the eggs. These days, I can’t get enough of them! I think it’s because they’re so healthy and so versatile. I definitely love the idea of pairing them with something as gorgeous as this beet and carrot hash. It looks so delicious!
I think I was also drawn to this dish because I couldn’t wait to photograph it. The purple-y red, orange, yellow, and white just look so great together!
Thank you, Carey!!!!
I just made this hash as beet/carrot burgers last night and served them on ciabatta from the Olympia, WA farmer’s market! This means I’m on the road again. Stay tuned for blogs from the Pacific Northwest food bounty!
Oooo, I am so dying to try this in burger form too. Especially on ciabatta, and topped with goat cheese!
I want some blogs from the Atlantic Northeast! In particular, one titled “Whitney and Carey Drink All the Wine and Eat All the Cheese in Vermont.”
…as they soak up the autumn colors while avoiding touristy messes.”
I really hope that’s foreshadowing! Burlington in the Fall is the best!
Yummy! I’ve been go crazy on the eggs lately too. I have no idea why, they’re just so good :) That hash looks so good, I especially love the use of garlic scapes, I love those :D
So beautiful and healthy! I’m thinking I’ll be trying this for breaky sometime soon! (maybe minus the beets, ours aren’t ready yet). Looks GREAT!
I’m sure this would still be delish with just carrots. Especially if you threw in some scallions!
Such a great twist on hash + eggs! Definitely going to try this for a summer dinner soon, along with some of the other delicious treats on our menu this week: http://www.lemonbasilpdx.com/2009/07/fridays-with-fava-beans.html.
Made these for dinner last week and they were incredible. I also cooked the beets before shredding them, which softened the texture a bit. I wonder if you could simply cook them for longer in the skillet raw? It would decrease the cook time significantly… No matter. The combination of running yolk with slightly tender carrots and beets was magical and I’ll definitely be making it again.
I’m definitely going to try sauteing the raw beets next time. Roasting beets isn’t exactly an ideal method in the middle of July! And if they’re grated, they shouldn’t take very long to cook at all (maybe slightly longer than the carrots by a minute or two, if that).
I made these in patty form the other night by adding in a couple eggs and some breadcrumbs and pan-frying them, and then served them on toasted bread with goat cheese. They were amazing! Though I think the runny yolk definitely adds something extra to this dish. If I was to make them again, I’d probably throw an egg on the sandwich too. :)