If you slice a vegetable and put it in your toaster to cook, can you really call it “toast”? I ask this because in case you haven’t heard, sweet potato “toast” is a thing now, popping up on social media with increasing frequency. Sure, I have made sweet potato “chips” in the oven that served as a comfy bed for herby goat cheese and caramelized onions…
But until this past week, I hadn’t asked my toaster to toast anything other than slices of bread.
Curious as I am, I decided to give the concept of sweet potato-as-toast a go.
The first step is to slice your unpeeled sweet potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices, preferably without losing a finger in the process. The next step is to rub a little bit of oil (I used avocado) on both sides of the potato slices. Finally, you place the potato in the toaster (either pop-up or toaster oven) and press “toast” repeatedly until the potato is tender, flipping every so often just to pass the time. For me, the process of making one piece of sweet potato toast took about 15 minutes. Good grief.
Here’s a sad little picture of how I enjoyed my “toast”…
I have to be honest and say that my first attempt at Sweet Potato Toast didn’t rock my world. I think it was a texture thing. But, I am willing to give it another try and if you would like to, here’s an article about the origin of Sweet Potato Toast that will give you lots of topping ideas! It’s a great option if you are trying to reduce your carbs or do not eat gluten.
But before I move on to today’s recipe, let me just say one more thing. It’s funny how we bend the definition of our words for the sake of food trends! I’m guilty of it myself. We have Sweet Potato “toast”, Cauliflower “rice” and Zucchini “noodles” which all sound way cooler than Sweet Potato Slices, Pulverized Cauliflower or Zucchini Spirals, right? I guess it’s all about the hashtag these days, right? Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that Merriam Webster has many any adjustments to its definition of toast – it’s still made from bread. 🙂
Ok, enough on that.
Today’s recipe was inspired by my friend Sheila. Over a year ago now, we must have been talking about cooking and she mentioned a recipe for spiralized sweet potatoes with eggs that she had found online and made a few times with great success. I believe this was the inspiration recipe here.
In any case, I made it once with good results and put the photo and the instructions on my Instagram. Another friend, Marte picked up on it and began making it for her family who really loved it. In fact, she recently tagged me in a photo she posted on Instagram of the sweet potatoes & eggs she made for her daughter who was heading back to college!
When I made the Sweet Potato toast, it reminded me of this Spiralized Sweet Potato-Egg dish and I thought it would be perfect to share this week. Maybe you need something to cook up on Easter morning if you are celebrating? In any case, Sweet Potato Nests & Eggs is pretty, fun and pretty easy and quick to boot (takes about as long as it took me to toast my sweet potato in fact). You can dress this dish up or down as you see fit. Marte served hers with some diced avocado which complements the dish beautifully. I served mine with some delicious bacon that I cooked and crumbled on top 🙂
If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can purchase Sweet Potato Spirals (note, I am not calling them noodles!) at many grocery stores nowadays. The recipe is very flexible – get creative with what you have in your fridge. Maybe saute a shallot before adding your sweet potato spirals. Yukon Gold spirals would be really tasty too. Add in some pickled jalapenos, top the eggs with cotija cheese and serve with some salsa. The possibilities are endless really.
In case you purchase your sweet potato spirals, here’s a shot of the 10 inch cast iron skillet I used for the recipe. The spirals from one large sweet potato (shy of 1 pound) filled up most of the pan so you can use this as a guideline for purchased spirals…I think the weight (after spiralizing and waste) might be around 3/4 of a pound give or take…
After the potatoes have cooked for a bit in a Tablespoon of oil, butter or ghee, make four nests for the eggs to sit in…
Continue cooking on the stovetop to set the eggs, top with some cheese and broil until done to your liking (I like the yolks runny)…
Garnish with freshly chopped chives, slices of avocado, crumbled bacon or whatever you can dream up!
So many options…
I hope you make Sweet Potato Nests & Eggs and if you do, please come back to this post and write a comment to let me know what you think!
Have a lovely weekend.
ps – the flashback posts below were some of the more popular recipes on the blog so please take a peek if you are new to The Kitchen Scout!
One Year Ago: Orange Sesame Chicken
Two Years Ago: Asparagus, Ham & Gruyere Tart
This is a dish that you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner and is very flexible depending on your preferences. Add a sauteed onion or shallot, perhaps some garlic if you would like. Give it a Mexican flare with pickled jalapenos, cotija cheese and some salsa. Switch out the spirals with a different vegetable. So many possibilites! Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil, olive oil, butter or grass fed ghee
- 1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound) or purchased spiralized sweet potatoes
- 4 large eggs
- Goat or Feta cheese
- Chopped fresh chives
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Wash, peel and spiralize the sweet potato.
- Preheat broiler with rack set on highest shelf.
- Heat a 10 inch cast iron or oven proof pan over medium heat and add the oil, butter or ghee. If using butter or ghee, allow it to melt completely before moving to the next step.
- Add the sweet potato spirals and a sprinkling of salt and pepper to the pan. Toss the spirals to get them coated with the fat and continue to cook until they are softened, about 7 -10 minutes or so.
- With tongs or two wooden spoons (to protect your pan), create 4 openings among the sweet potatoes that are large enough to comfortably hold one egg.
- Crack one egg into each opening and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Turn heat to medium low and cover the pan, allowing the egg to set for approximately 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and uncover the pan. Add your preferred cheese, as much as you would like!
- Place pan under the broiler and continue to cook until eggs are set and done to your liking (I like my yolks runny so I cooked mine another 2 minutes).
- Remove pan from oven and sprinkle with the chopped chives.
- Garnish with some fresh slices of avocado if you wish. Bacon always works as well.
- Eat promptly!
Great post. I got caught up in the whole toast your sweet potato for breakfast that I skipped your recipe all together. The recipe looks delicious though. I will have to try the toast first!
Thank you!
Fun to read this! I 💗putting avocado mash on top of salted and oiled sweet potato “toasts”. It’s worth the wait….the toaster wait, that is!
Ok – I will give that a try Lucy!!!