Creole Hash & Eggs (Whole30 Day 2)

It's Day 2 of my Whole30, and I'm feeling great so far!  Yesterday I had quite a headache, which I think was because I tried to replace my morning coffee with tea.  It was too soon for that--I need to take my changes one at a time!  Since I don't like black coffee very much, I did a little research and found this recipe for bulletproof coffee.  It's basically hot coffee mixed with some ghee and coconut oil.  I made some using my immersion blender, and it was pretty good!  Not quite as delicious as my regular cup of joe (with copious amounts of grassfed milk, a splash of maple syrup, and a few drops of vanilla extract--none of which are allowed on the Whole30), but much more palatable than plain coffee.

In case you're new to my blog, and are asking yourself, "What's a Whole30?  What's ghee??", let me explain a little.  The Whole30 is a 30-day paleo healthy eating program developed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig.  There are plenty of free resources on their site if you'd like to learn more or try a Whole30 yourself--they even have forums where people can connect, share challenges and successes, and ask questions about what is and isn't allowed during the 30 days.

The Whole30 is all about healing yourself and changing your body by cooking and eating real foods for 30 days, with no slips and no cheating. The basics rules are these: during a Whole30, you can eat meat, fish, and poultry (preferably grassfed, wild-caught, and free-range), vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and coconut products (oil, milk, etc.).  You can't have grains (including corn, quinoa, and all other grains), sugar or other sweeteners, dairy (the only exception is ghee), legumes (including soy or peanuts), vegetable oils (like canola), or processed foods.

Ghee, which is similar to clarified butter, is allowed on the Whole30 because in the process of making it, the objectionable parts of butter are removed.  I just made a batch of ghee yesterday, and it is SO delicious.  It's much more flavorful than regular butter, with an enticing nutty aroma and taste.  It also has a much higher smoking point, so it won't burn during higher heat cooking the way butter does.  See this post on how to make ghee from Nom Nom Paleo if you want to make your own.  

I used my ghee this morning to make this delicious & easy breakfast, but if you don't have ghee or time to make it, you can also use coconut oil.  I had some andouille sausage, which sparked the idea for this New Orleans-inspired meal.  I never had anything exactly like this in any of my trips to the Big Easy, but it's so yummy that no one you serve it to will care if it's authentic.

I love fried eggs, so I made mine over-easy and served them on top of the hash, as pictured above.  However, my boyfriend is runny-yolk averse and prefers his eggs scrambled, so I cracked a few eggs into the other half of the hash and made him a breakfast scramble.  He loved it!  Either way, I hope you give this flavorful breakfast a try.

Creole Hash & Eggs
Yield: 2 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil, divided (see how to make your own ghee here)
1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower
1/2 onion, diced
1 link andouille sausage (3 oz), finely chopped* (I used Niman Ranch; you can use any sausage you like, or omit the sausage for a vegetarian hash)
3/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning, or to taste
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving

*My sausage was fully cooked.  If yours is not, brown it in the ghee before adding the vegetables, and make sure it is cooked through before serving.

Heat half of the ghee or coconut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the vegetables and cook, stirring often, until somewhat softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the sausage and Creole seasoning and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are starting to brown and the sausage is heated through.

While the hash is cooking, fry the eggs.  Heat the remaining ghee or oil in another skillet over medium heat, fry the eggs to your liking, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Serve the hash topped with the eggs and some fresh cilantro.

If you don't like fried eggs, you can make a scramble, which makes this a one-pan meal.  When the hash is almost done, push it to the edges of the skillet and add the remaining ghee to the middle of the pan.  Crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble them.  Pour them into the center of the skillet, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and let cook for a minute or so.  When the eggs are partially cooked, scramble the whole thing together until fully cooked, and serve hot topped with cilantro.

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You might also like:

Poached Eggs with Creamy Spinach (Whole30 compliant, Vegetarian)

Veggie Hash & Eggs (Whole30 compliant, Vegetarian)

Carnitas con huevo (Whole30 compliant)