Oooooooh yeahhhhhh. Spurred on by my new resolve to eat locally and in-season, I found the springboard for this recipe in the October 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living. I’ve made some changes, but this recipe has singlehandedly cured me of my phobia of beets. It just goes to show, if you think you don’t like something, in all likelihood you just haven’t had it prepared properly.
The mixture of sweet potatoes and roasting goes a long way towards melding the earthy fall flavors, and the addition of a cippollini onion added carmel-y sweetness. Seriously, the best new things I’ve made in a long time… I used golden and red beets for extra color and to fool the kids- they hide better amid the sweet potato. Takes about an hour, serves four.
Fall Root Vegetable and Quinoa Hash with Poached Peppered Egg
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced 1/4 inch
- 3 beets, peeled and diced 1/4 inch, greens reserved, rinsed and sliced thinly
- 2 cippollini onions, sliced (you can sub 1/2 a regular onion if your market doesn’t have the small flat Italian cippollini)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (from 1/4 cup dry)
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 clove garlic
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 400*. Peel and dice sweet potato and toss with 1 tsp olive oil and lay in a single layer on half a rimmed cookie sheet. Peel and dice beets separately to keep from coloring potatoes, and place in a single layer on other half of baking sheet. (Enjoy the spectacular color in your sink as you wash up after the beets.) Throw the onion slices on too, with a dab of oil as well, and salt the whole tray. Roast one hour, stirring half way through.
- Back at the ranch, as the veggies near their completion, warm the remaining olive oil in a skillet, and saute the garlic clove and thyme on low heat to bring out their flavors. (Don’t burn your garlicky friends.) Add the beet greens and saute until slightly browned and tender- about 5 minutes. Add the cup of prepared quinoa (wonder grain!) and saute until warmed through.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a low simmer, adding the Tbsp of vinegar (any old kind will do) Break each egg into a cup, and slowly lower the cup into the water and gently slide the egg out. Use a spoon to fold the edges of the white over the poaching egg. Simmer until white is set, yolk is still soft- about 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer to plates.
- Toss the roasted vegetables with the quinoa mixture, divide on four plates and top each plate with a poached egg and garnish with fresh black pepper.
- Yummmmy!! Now if I can get the boys to eat it…
Dandelion Mama 
I think they serve this in the Celestial Kingdom! Wow!!
Ha! Anything that could get you to try beets is A Good Thing!
The recipe sounds nice, for all that sweet potatoes and I don’t get along. Reminds me of a blog I read that fits your resolutions. http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/ It’s written by a couple in Minneapolis that experiments with recipes and goes to the farmers market every week. I actually made Black Forest Preserves from their site. Yum!
Well, it looks beautiful, but I’m still a little scared. I’ve never had quinoa, and while I find roasted beets MUCH better than any other kind (as in, I can eat them without gagging) they’re still not my favorite. Of course, poached eggs are deeeeee-vine, and make everything so tasty.
Quinoa is something I discovered since I found out I have the Celiac/Gluten thing. It’s a high-protein grain from South America, and it’s kind of like couscous- it’s mild and nutty and a great stand in for gluten-y things. It would probably be great for a diabetic diet because of the protein, Wiz.
So, could you substitute another grain? Bulgur? Brwon Rice? And could I fry my egg and plop it on top??
Absolutely Melissa- use bulgar or rice, and a fried egg would be great, too!
look delicious! Thank you for your recipe. I try it.
I love your site. I have added your site to my site.
Please link my site to your site.
Thank you!
I’m not a fan of beets. Nor am I a fan of under-cooked eggs. {In my head I can already hear Ray laughing at that understatement!}
However, this looks really good!
Did your kids eat it? And did they like it?
Ha! No way on the boys. Abby tried it though. At least there’s that. I LOVE poached eggs- I’m sorry if this is icky to you- I knew some folks wouldn’t be over the moon about it- but it was SO good I had to take the picture!
We made this for brunch today for some friends–a huge success! Great recipe Tracy!
Yay Amri!!! So glad!
This sounds amazing. I’m going to make it and see if my kids will eat it or turn up their noses. I just bought a bunch of beets and i’m dying to use them!