Blistered Tomato Sweet Potato Hash Brown Stack

Blistered Tomato Sweet Potato Hash Brown Stacks are perfect for an easy brunch. Simple ingredients add up to big flavors and a meal you can truly slow down and jam to on a Sunday morning. Grab your coffee and let’s make brunch! This meal is gluten free and vegetarian.

You do you.

That phrase has been rolling around in my head for the last week. I don’t know how it got stuck there, but I can’t stop coming back to it.

Maybe because I constantly encourage others to do what is best for them. You do you. But for me? For some reason, I’ve been overlooking my own advice, and I’ve been miserable as a result.

Miserable may be a bit dramatic. But I certainly have felt like something was missing. And like I’ve been faking it a little too much and not making it.

You do you.

It sounds so simple. And it should be. So why do we tend to ignore it?

Why do we feel a need to fulfill others’ dreams and put ourselves on the backburner?

I was talking with one of my best friends after I had finished a fitness challenge a week ago. I had worked really hard, changed my morning routine (more on this later), done everything 95% right, and yet I was still really beating myself up mentally. Which I realize is ridiculous because most people are excited when they finish a mental and physical challenge. But I really wasn’t.

It all came down to being true to myself. I missed my yoga practice; it keeps me grounded and positive. I missed the creativity in my cooking and the flavors I reach for instinctively. I missed feeling like my coffee was my savior in the morning instead of just this cup of shame because I made it into a badass collagen latte instead of keeping it black. I missed the workouts I identified with that keep me looking forward to working out.

Anyways, this challenge was only one symptom of the slew. But after that conversation, I felt so free. I felt like acknowledging that I wasn’t “doing me” to someone who knows me, gave me permission to dig back into what I truly need and want out of my day.

So what’s my point?

You do you. I think that’s my point. I think giving yourself permission to be true to you is so important. To let go of the feeling of obligation that you’ve put on yourself to make others happier than you. To let go of fulfilling other people’s needs while totally ignoring your own.

It’s good to help others out. It’s good to be there for other people, but just don’t forget about you. Don’t forget about the things that also make you happy and make you tick.

What does this all have to do with brunch? Um, nothing. But don’t you need a killer brunch after that mental truthbomb? I do.

 

So let’s dig into these Blistered Tomato Sweet Potato Hash Brown Stacks!

Roasting up vine tomatoes until they’re blistered, split open and intensely flavored is the start of any good meal. And really, they look so impressive while being so simple.

Creating a sweet potato hash brown is super simple too. It just takes patience. You grate sweet potato, form it into circles in your pan, keep your pan on medium heat so they don’t burn while cooking, then let them spend some quality time in the pan until they’re golden and crisp. A bit of salt is all they need. It seriously doesn’t get any more simple than that.

Of course, I could top anything and everything with an egg. And avocado. And a spritz of fresh lime for some acid and to keep that avocado bright and green.

Topping it with fresh cilantro is a must for me. You may want to skip the cilantro and sub it for basil, just try to throw some fresh herbs in there. Things only get better with a punch of fresh herbs. Promise! And honestly, you could use some arugula in there too if you have it.

The beauty of this dish, you’ll find, is not only the simplicity, but how wonderfully fresh the flavors are. And I could bet that you probably have everything already in your kitchen, just begging to be transformed into brunch! Let’s make Blistered Tomato Sweet Potato Hash Brown Stacks, ok?

YES!

 

Blistered Tomato Sweet Potato Hash Brown Stack
Recipe by Melissa @ Treats With a Twist 
makes 1 portion, easily doubled/tripled 

For the tomatoes:
6-8 small tomatoes on the vine
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Per serving (2 stacks):
1 cup shredded sweet potato
½ avocado
2 large eggs
olive oil
fresh lime wedges
sea salt

Method:
Tomatoes: Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast in a 400 degree F oven for 20-30 minutes or until blistered.
Grate your sweet potato with the large hole grater side (my grater has small or large). Put the shredded potato on a few layers of paper towel, sprinkle the potato with sea salt then press paper towel over it, squeezing out any extra moisture (if you want to use a kitchen towel, that’s fine, but it will probably stain).
Heat a skillet over medium heat and drizzle in a bit of olive oil (a couple tablespoons). Mound the potatoes in two circular mounds and press them down with the back of a spatula to compact. Cook for 10 minutes or until the bottom is golden and crisp; carefully flip and fully cook on the other side. This is a game of patience because potatoes take forever to cook, so that’s why I do them while the tomatoes are roasting.
Carefully move finished sweet potato hash browns onto a wire rack so they won’t get soggy on the bottom (or you can just move them onto a paper towel). Add a bit more olive oil into the pan, crack in a couple eggs, and cook them to your liking. Sprinkle them with a little coarse salt.
On your plate, layer sweet potato hash browns, an egg, some avocado and a dash of sea salt. Sprinkle the stacks with fresh cilantro and a spritz of lime. Serve with the blistered tomatoes.

Notes:
I like to use my fork to grab some of the tomato then some of the sweet potato stack. I don’t like to put the tomato onto the stack because I’m afraid it will only make it soggy.
Use leftover blistered tomatoes in pasta sauce or another round of this recipe! I also have a recipe for a twist on enchilada sauce using blistered tomatoes (coming soon!), so those tomatoes will never go to waste!

To Print this recipe, just copy and paste the text into a blank document on your computer then print. Yes, that’s old school but I kinda love it!

For more sweet potato ideas, try these and these!!
We should have some sangria with this, right?