A savory skillet hash of diced Japanese sweet potato caramelized in bacon fat with mushrooms and kale, finished with fresh herbs

Some mornings the hardest part of eating well is just deciding what to eat, and a hash solves that by being the whole meal in one pan: protein, a starchy vegetable, and greens, all done by the time the coffee finishes. The only real trick is patience with the sweet potato, leaving it alone in the hot fat long enough to actually brown instead of just softening. That is a small discipline, and it is the same discipline this whole protocol keeps asking of you in bigger ways.

The carotenoids in Japanese sweet potato are pigments the body can convert toward vitamin A, one reason the orange-fleshed variety is worth seeking out here, and the vitamin K in the kale wilted in near the end is doing its own quiet work alongside a handful of minerals. Keep the bacon itself clean, plainly cured, no sugar, no nightshade spice blend, so the whole plate stays inside AIP Core without you having to think twice about it.

Notice the small things this dish gives you almost for free: the sizzle when the sweet potato first hits the fat, the color once the herbs land on top, the fact that it looks like something you would order rather than something you assembled out of necessity. Let a good-looking plate be part of what gets you through a plain morning.

Ingredients

• 8 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 large Japanese sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp green onions or chives, sliced
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups kale (or other leafy green), chopped

Method

Set a large skillet, cast iron if you have it, over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until it has rendered its fat and crisped to your liking. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. If there is a great deal of fat, pour off a little, but keep enough to coat the bottom generously.

Add the diced sweet potato to the hot fat and spread it in an even layer. Let it cook without stirring for a few minutes so it browns, then turn and continue cooking, stirring now and then, until the cubes are tender inside and crisp at the edges. This is the patient part; resist the urge to stir too often.

Stir in the sliced mushrooms and the sea salt and cook until the mushrooms soften and release their moisture, then dry off and brown a little. Add the chopped kale and toss until it wilts down, just a couple of minutes.

Return the crisp bacon to the pan and toss everything together. Pull the skillet off the heat and scatter the cilantro, parsley, and green onions or chives over the top. Taste for salt and serve warm.

Air fryer variation

You can lean on the air fryer for the sweet potato. Toss the diced sweet potato with a little of the rendered bacon fat and air fry at about 380 degrees Fahrenheit, shaking the basket once or twice, until tender and crisp at the edges. Meanwhile crisp the chopped bacon and soften the mushrooms in a skillet, then add the air-fried sweet potato and the kale to the skillet to bring it all together and wilt the greens. Finish with the fresh herbs off the heat. These air fryer times are untested, so check the sweet potato for doneness before combining.

*Adapted from healmedelicious.com*