Bittersweet Potato Hash

Another chapter.  My oldest left for college a few weeks ago and it's not the nest that seems empty, it's me. I just can't get to feeling whole. I'm working, taking care of my precious daughter who's still home, hanging with my husband, going to yoga, playing with the dogs and getting together with friends but it's not working. I still feel something missing, some part of me. It's a hole I can't fill and that hole is her growing up and moving on. And of course I'm excited for her and even text and talk to her some, but it's not the same. I miss her physical presence and seeing her face for myself and knowing what kind of a day she had...if she's happy or sad or irritated or stressed. I miss seeing her in the morning and last thing before bed.  I've been dreading this day since she was a baby. That's just how I am. Anticipating where I might hurt in the future and doing my best to avoid it. This one I couldn't.

We'll see her at Parents Weekend in a month and I know she'll be a little changed. And I will not have been there to see the change happen and that's hard. But it's what needs to happen now for her to begin the final stage towards becoming an adult in full. She's going to nail it. I'm going to get used to it. 

Heading to the kitchen when I'm melancholy is one of my remedies. Potato hash is such a good comfort food and can be relatively healthy. Reheats well too. I've learned that the best way to cook them is over medium or even medium low heat for what seems like a long time (20 minutes). This way they have time to cook through and get brown. This version has sweet potatoes and an almost equivalent amount of onions and peppers because I love those brighter flavors in contrast with the mellow potato. The topping is raw scallions for a bit of bite and well-stirred plain yogurt dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper (one of my favorites). This is also good with some sausage mixed in or a fried egg on the top

Sweet Potato Hash

serves 1-2

2 sweet potatoes*, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
1/2 red or green pepper, cut into 1/2"-3/4" dice
1/4 white onion, cut into 1/2"-3/4" dice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon virgin coconut or olive oil
1 scallion, green and light green part sliced thinly
Plain yogurt
Olive oil

Toss chopped vegetables with salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skilled over medium heat. When hot, add potatoes and vegetables and spread out onto one layer, pressing down gently. Let cook undisturbed for 10 minutes (turn heat up down if they seem to be browning too fast) then flip trying to get brown sides up, turn heat down to medium low and let cook for another 10 minutes. Check to make sure they're cooked all the way through then sprinkle with scallions and serve with yogurt.

*Most sweet potatoes around here have light skins and even lighter colored flesh. Often bright orange yams are confused for sweet potatoes but their flesh is softer and tends to get mushy in hashes, in my experience.