VGL Cookbook: Sweet Potato Hash Browns

I always associate sweet potatoes and/or yams with Thanksgiving.  It was a vegetable that we ate sliced, sprinkled with a light brown sugar, topped with butter and baked to sweet perfection.  But that was it.  I've had sweet potato fries, but that is about as different a variation as it has been....until now.

Watching an episode of "Chopped", one of the ingredients was a sweet potato.  Contestants were school chefs/cooks and had to prepare meals that kids would like but were good for them.  One chef made a sweet potato hash brown (but hers came out like a little cake).  I made a mental note that I still had a sweet potato left over from New Year's turkey dinner.

A few days later, looking to make a different side dish, I remembered the sweet potato!  (They stay very well)
I grabbed the shredder and began....

1 medium sized sweet potato - grated (I used the old style box grater)
1 small onion - chopped (small bits)
1/4 +  teaspoon salt
1/4 +  teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter

First, peel the sweet potato
Then grate it
Now, in a large frying pan, add oil and butter, low heat to melt butter
Salt and pepper the shredded potato and toss about to season throughout
Sprinkle the seasoned shredded sweet potato into the frying pan and cook 5-10 minutes
Let it get a little golden brown on the bottom and then, with a spatula, toss/turn over and keep
moving the hash browns until tender and slightly browned.

The sweetness of the potato, the flavor of the onion mixed with the salt and pepper made this quite the
surprise side dish that evening.  In fact, the review was so good, the request was: "please, make it again"!

It was so simple to make - so colorful on the plate - so delicious to eat!  Try It!

PS - That evening's meal was chicken cutlet (pounded down) with a slice of prosciutto and topped with shredded Manchego cheese, rolled up, secured with toothpicks (2) and sauteed in olive oil and butter until light golden brown.  Then I added a cup of chicken broth, covered it and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile the green beans were cooked with a sliced clove of garlic and served with a basil flavored olive oil!  Mmmmm