Sweet Potato, Mushroom, Kale, and Sausage Hash

I feel like working in student affairs sometimes means your never more than forty feet away from a pizza.  Let's face it - the convenience of the free food around campus is nice sometimes, but it seriously lacking in nutritional value.  This meal is chock full of vitamins and nutrients, so it's great when you need a break from all of that pizza. 

Sweet potatoes and kale are both superfoods, which means they're super nutrient rich and full of antioxidants.  Eating "across the rainbow" when it comes to vegetables is also a good practice because different nutrients express themselves in different colors.  I find that I have the hardest time getting the reds and oranges in my diet so I love using sweet potatoes when I can.  These sweet potatoes will be spiced with paprika and cayenne pepper, making them deliciously smoky and hot.  Roasting them will also make them brown and caramelized.

Once the potatoes are in the oven, remove the sausage from the casings and brown them in the pan.  Remove them from the pan once they'e cooked through and add the onions and mushrooms.  Try not to eat half the sausage while you're cooking the vegetables like I did - oops.

Once the onions become translucent and the mushrooms have cooked down, and the kale  and garlic and season again with salt and pepper.  Seasoning each layer you add to the pan is really important in this dish so it's evenly seasoned.  Once the kale wilts return the sausage to the pan and add the roasted potatoes.  Stir to combine and serve!

Sweet Potato, Mushroom, Kale, and Sausage Hash

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 2 medium sweet potatoes 
• paprika
• cayenne pepper
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 12 oz. crimini mushrooms
• 1 bunch of kale
• 3 italian sausages 

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Peel and dice sweet potatoes, coat them with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper, and arrange them in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet.  Roast potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes
3. Remove sausage from the casings, crumble, and cook through over medium heat
4. Chop the onion and kale, slice the mushrooms, and crush or mince the garlic.
5. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and add the onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper
6. Once the onions become translucent and mushrooms soften, add the crushed garlic and kale.  Season again with salt and pepper
7. When the kale is wilted stir in the cooked sausage and the sweet potatoes