As it does.

I mean, let’s be real here. Breakfast food is some of the best food ever. Which is why sometimes we make a big deal out of having breakfast food for dinner. Pancakes for dinner? Yes, please. Waffles? No arguments here.

And how often do we see dinner for breakfast? I have heard of ramen for breakfast. I may or may not have done this before. But we’re here to talk about breakfast! And not just any breakfast. This delicious breakfast:

I find breakfast is a rare treat for me these days. My time as a student and stay-at-home dad dragged me from a life of quality, daily breakfasts to a high-stress, fast-paced, hyphen-filled-paragraph life of breakfastlessness. I still find myself there now after transitioning to a working lifestyle. My coffee is all I need to get through until lunch eventually happens. Probably because I make a damn good cup of coffee.

And what does coffee go great with? Breakfast. It’s a delectable double-edged sword. A reminder of the breakfast that never was!

So, I have a tendency to buy a little extra of such and such produce based on whatever dinners I have planned and I have no idea what I’ll do with it. Inspiration or improvisation phase through to my mind from the qliphoth between realities and something insanely edible is born.

I know, it looks like a simple hash. And realistically, it is. But here’s what I did with it.

Take some breakfast sausage. Or don’t. and fry up some onions and bell peppers on medium in your favorite skillet. No, not those green peppers. They have their place in the world, but not today. Pick something jazzy, a pepper that makes the dish glow and adds a peppery flavor your taste buds aren’t accustomed to. I chose orange. I bought one of those multi-colored pepper packs because I needed 1 red bell pepper for another dish earlier in the week. The orange and yellow ones have been staring at me ever since.

Dice up your pepper, a small onion ( I used red) and get them caramelizing with or without a meaty friend. You can go full veggie with this. Broccoli. Mushrooms. Kale. You can also go insatiable carnivore with bacon, ham, sausage or any combination therein.

Once caramelizing is in full swing and fats are rendering, add a little butter or olive and throw in some potatoes. I know some mild judgment is coming, but I used this:

I devised this breakfasty scheme the night before and I wanted it to be quick. I usually dice up fresh potatoes and cook them in from raw to deliciously cooked but I took a chance on a shortcut. I have to say, I was not disappointed.

Cook until the potatoes start to brown on the outside. Make sure you season it all and bring the temp down to give the potatoes time to cook through.

In the meantime, get some butter melted in another pan on medium-low and crack a couple eggs in. I tend to go for somewhere between over-easy and over-medium. Prepare your eggs how you like!

Shut off the hash, plate up a generous pile of it and place your eggs on top. Garnish with fresh chives or any other herb you have handy. Hot sauce goes great with it. I used a fire roasted habanero sauce.

“This sounds great, Bob. But how is this adventurous? It looks a lot like that Leftovers post you made.” I thought long about this. Here’s my assembled thought fragments: This particular breakfast is not much of an adventure. Breakfast itself is often an adventure because we don’t always prepare for it in the same way we might dinner for the week. At least I don’t. Making this meal the same way I did may not be the route of the adventure. Experiment. Play around with the ingredients. It’s why I encouraged it in the beginning of this post.

Breakfast is like a blank canvas. With the same method but different ingredients, you can transform a common dish into a significantly different one.

Recipe:

Eggs:
– 2, your choice
– 1 tbsp. butter
– Salt & pepper to taste

Hash:
– 1 lb sausage
– 1 lb potatoes, diced
– 1 orange bell pepper, diced
– 1 small red onion, chopped
– 2 tbsp. olive oil
– 1 tsp. garlic powder (or 1 clove minced)
– Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, add olive oil , onion, peppers and sausage. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add potatoes and cook for another 6 minutes. Turn heat to low and continue cooking until eggs are done.
3. In a medium skillet on medium-low heat, add butter and eggs. Cook eggs as desired.
4. Place hash on your plate first. Put eggs on top.
5. Add hot sauce of choice if you wish. Garnish with fresh chives.
6. Enjoy!