Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

As you know if you follow my blog, I am currently participating in Dr. Terry Wahls’ latest study concerning the role of diet and nutrition in managing and treating Multiple Sclerosis. If you are interested in knowing more about the study, please read my blog posts “So, I Did Something a Little Bit Crazy…” and “Drum Roll, Please…”

I was assigned into the control group of the study. As a member of the control group they want me to eat in keeping with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and not in keeping with how the average American actually eats. To this end, Mary Ehlinger, one of the two unblinded members of the research team, regularly sends me recipes to consider trying. A recipe that she sent to me inspired me to develop this recipe, because I’ve never met a recipe that I didn’t think I could improve upon. Seriously, I messed with Julia Child’s French onion soup recipe last week - the horror!

I was watching “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” on Netflix the other day as I plodded along on the treadmill, and the Japanese sweet potato was prominently featured as one of the healthy foods regularly consumed by the people of Okinawa, Japan, who live to be over 100 years old with a greater frequency than anywhere else in the world. When I popped by Farm Boy for a couple of grocery items and spotted Japanese sweet potatoes, I felt like the universe was telling me to play around with a new recipe highlighting the ingredient.

First thing’s first, while I used purple Japanese sweet potatoes in this recipe, if you can’t find them in your local store, you can absolutely use another variety of sweet potato. Both are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as several of the B vitamins, and minerals including potassium and manganese. Japanese sweet potatoes also have anthocyanins, the antioxidant which gives them their purple hue. What regular orange sweet potatoes lack in anthocyanins, they make up for in beta-carotene.

If you follow the Wahls’ Protocol, this recipe is compliant with the diet. This gluten-free, dairy free, nutrition-packed recipe even met with the approval of my 4 year-old son, who ate everything except for the kale. One of these days I’m going to convince him to eat kale, but this was not the day.

This recipe would also go nicely with a fried egg over the top, if you are so inclined. Note that I did not include a fried egg when I made it and therefore this has not been factored into the nutrition breakdown.

Ingredients:

1 Japanese sweet potato (or regular sweet potato), washed and large diced leaving skin on

1 cup small potatoes (I used The Little Potato Co. Little Trios), washed and cut in half leaving skin on

2 tbsp avocado oil, divided

4 turkey sausages (I used Hayter’s Original Turkey Sausages, which are gluten free)

1 small yellow or white onion, small diced

1 large red pepper, large diced

1 large green pepper, large diced

1-3 cloves of garlic, based on taste preference and size of cloves, crushed or minced (I used 19g)

tsp smoked paprika

2 cups kale, with ribs removed and roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit

Toss the sweet potatoes and potatoes in 1 tbsp avocado oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Roast the sweet potato/potato mixture for 30 minutes.

The sweet potato and potato mixture prior to roasting.

Meanwhile, grill or pan fry the turkey sausages over medium heat until cooked through, approximately 15-20 minutes. Once cooked, slice into 1/2 inch-3/4 inch rounds. Note that you do not need to pre-boil turkey sausages because they are naturally very lean.

Sauté the onion in 1 tbsp avocado oil over medium high heat until lightly browned (approximately 3 minutes). Add the peppers, garlic, and paprika and continue to sauté until the peppers are softened (approximately 3 minutes). Add the sausage rounds, kale, and the sweet potato/potato mixture to the onion and pepper mixture. Continue to sauté until the kale is wilted (approximately 2-3 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition per serving (makes 4 servings):

422 calories

21.6 grams protein

14.2 grams fat

8.1 grams fibre