Vegetarian Breakfast Hash
http://rebeccmeister.livejournal.com/708504.html

This was prompted by some discussion of different methods for making hash browns. My dad gets the original credit, for teaching me how to make hash browns when I was in, oh, third grade or so. He just uses potatoes, though. Also, we don't bother with parboiling steps. Consult Monk for that recipe.

Methods: Dig around in your vegetable drawer, to see what's there. Also check the countertops. Works best if you discover at least an onion and a good-looking pepper or two (not too hot, but a little spice might perk you up in the morning). Oh, and a potato. If you're lucky, maybe you will find a sweet potato, and a carrot. Maybe you will find a beet. I haven't tried this with turnips, but I bet they'd be fine as well. Start heating up a cast-iron frying pan that's large enough to hold a quantity of vegetables, and drizzle in a bit of olive oil. You will want the pan to get reasonably warm, say, medium-high heat. Chop up a half an onion, or maybe a shallot, and a pepper, and add them to the pan as it warms up. Clean the potato, sweet potato, and carrot, removing any bad spots with a paring knife. Shred them up and add them to the pan. In the original method, my dad used a wok, and would toss around the potatoes a bit so they were covered in a very thin layer of oil (oh, he also used canola oil). But the basic idea is that you want the vegetables to have enough oil so they don't stick to the frying pan and burn. The thin coating of oil also stops the potatoes/vegetables from oxidizing (browning) upon exposure to the air.

Then, let everything cook in a pillowy layer for a few minutes, so the bottom layer starts to get nice and crispy (but not too crispy all at once). Once that happens, flip things over so the hash that was on top is now on the bottom and gets its turn to cook for a few minutes. You may have to repeat this process again once or twice. As things get close to done, sprinkle some paprika across the top right before you flip the hash over, and cook the paprika-side for a brief while (heating it up releases flavor). Top with ketchup, cholula, salt, pepper, and maybe some sour cream, if you've got it.

Note that hash alone is full of carbohydrates, with a bit of fat and virtually no protein. Cook up some eggs to eat along with the hash, or substitute in some other protein source as you see fit. Peanut butter would be weird. Just saying.