When life hands you leftover vegetables, make hash

Vegetable roasting season is in full swing, and I can’t think of a better or simpler way to make fall and winter produce taste so enticingly good. That’s why, when I found myself with a colorful collection of leftover roasted vegetables in my refrigerator the other day — remnants from the past week’s dinners — they screamed “hash” to me. And I’m glad, because I now have a new favorite breakfast.

There were Brussels sprouts roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper; sweet potatoes and beets that were not yet seasoned; and green beans that had been glazed with balsamic vinegar.

To bring that haphazard collection of vegetables together, I needed a unifying ingredient. I found it in an onion, chopped and skillet-cooked until its inherent sugars helped to create crisped edges. Onions cooked that way are a bold flavor starter used in just about every type of cuisine, transcending culinary borders, so they are the perfect way to marry leftover roasted vegetables, no matter which vegetables they are or how they were originally seasoned.

Once the onions are done, you add your mix of chopped vegetables to the skillet and cook until they are warmed through and everything browns a bit further. Then season with salt and pepper (which you may or may not need, depending on how much is already on the vegetables); top with a fried (or poached) egg; add a little hot sauce, if you’d like; and breakfast is served.

Roasted Vegetable Hash and Eggs

4 servings

From nutritionist and cookbook author Ellie Krieger.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)

4 cups chopped, mixed roasted vegetables, such as roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, potato, sweet potato and/or squash

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 large eggs

Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion; cook for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring a few times, until it has softened and is well browned on some edges.

Stir in the vegetables; cook until they are warmed through and have further browned, about 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, but keep the hash in the pan, so it stays warm while you cook the eggs.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack the eggs and add them one at a time to the pan, spacing them evenly apart. Cook until the whites are opaque but the yolks are still a bit runny, flipping them over once.

Serve the eggs over the hash, with hot sauce, if desired.

Per serving: 230 calories, 9 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 185 mg cholesterol, 180 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar