When I first started this blog, we were eating hardly any meat. We’d eat meat once or twice a week and on top of being cheaper, it also made me feel a lot better physically. It’s no secret that a lot of meat isn’t good for you, and especially in these modern times when meat is filled with hormones, antibiotics and the like, eating meat can be actually bad for you if you’re not springing for the crazy expensive organic, raised on hills of rolling green grass and hand fed dandelions that have been blessed by the pope kind of meat. I think we could all do with more balance in our diets and, you know what, if you’re only eating meat a couple times a week, you can actually afford the good stuff.
On the non-meat eating days, it’s nice to have a hearty vegetarian meal that isn’t salad and that fills you up. With the cold weather setting in (I’ve only heard about this cold weather, not experienced it. It’s 102 in the valley today) you’ll want to be eating something really delicious – comfort food at its best. This sweet potato mash with sauteed greens and runny eggs is comforting, filling and good for you to boot.
I found some gorgeous, locally grown kale and swiss chard at the farmers market, so I used a half a bunch each for this, but you can use whatever greens you like. All kale is a good way to go. I enjoy the bitterness of the kale and swiss chard with the richness of the sweet potato, but spinach would also work nicely as would collard greens.
Anything with a runny egg on top seems fancy, and I don’t think this is any exception, but the truth is that this is really simple and quick to prepare. There’s nothing fancy about the ingredients and it doesn’t take any advanced level of skill to make the mash or greens. The mash and the greens would also be great as two sides to a main dish of roasted pork loin or chicken.
Are you trying to eat less meat, too? What are your favorite vegetarian meals? Tell me in the comments!
The Cheerful Kitchen
Yields 2 servings
This is a hearty vegetarian entree, or just as good as two side dishes with a meat entree.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 big bunch of greens (I used half a bunch of Kale and half a bunch of Swiss Chard)
- 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes
- 1T of butter
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used half and half because I'm trying to use it up. And because it's delicious.)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 eggs
- Grated Parmesan for serving
- 1T olive oil
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into small cubes. The size of your cubes will determine how long it takes to steam them. It will probably take about 10 minutes after the water starts boiling, but check frequently after that if they are not done by 10 minutes.
- While your sweet potatoes are steaming, trim the stems off your kale, wash the greens and roughly chop them up. Saute them on medium heat in the olive oil until they are all wilted. The amount of greens will drastically reduce as they wilt.
- Once your greens have wilted, season with salt and pepper and add the vinegar and worcestershire. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Cover and set aside until ready to use.
- When the sweet potato is tender, transfer to a pot or bowl. Add the butter and milk, season with salt and pepper, and then mash. Leave some chunks for texture. We're not trying for a puree! Cover and set aside.
- Cook your eggs to over easy, or however you like them. This would be great with poached eggs, too.
- To assemble, put half the greens on each plate, put a couple big spoonfuls of the sweet potato mash on top of the greens, then place an egg on top of that. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan and enjoy!
Value food and cheer and song
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