This Harvest Hash is inspired by the hash served at Picnik in Austin. It’s a meal full of cozy Autumn flavors and seasonal produce like apples, maple, sweet potatoes and sprouts! It’s perfect for a hearty breakfast.
Are you ready for Fall yet? Because I sure am! I’m not quite tired of the heat just yet l but I am ready for cozier clothes, the slower season of life, pumpkins, and all the seasonal Fall food. To kick-start the Fall foodie season, I recreated the Harvest Hash from Picnik that’s full of cozy Autumn flavors and seasonal produce like apples, maple, sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts!
I first enjoyed Picnik’s Harvest Hash a few weeks ago when dining with my friend Vanessa. She actually ordered the hash (because I’m obsessed with Picnik’s cassava flour blueberry pancakes and make that my go-to order). Vanessa raved about the hash and while eating it, asked if I thought it would be difficult to recreate it at home.
I instantly took this as a challenge and told her, ‘I’ll figure it out for you and send you the recipe!’
I took a couple bites of her hash to decompose the flavors and texture then glanced at Picnik’s menu to assess the Harvest Hash description. That weekend I set about recreating the Harvest Hash at home.
My objective was to recreate the flavors of the hash but make it something a little leaner that could be consumed regularly without it feeling as indulgent.
I wanted my hash to be everyday-accessible and a dish that could be made in large portions to reheat over the course of the week.
- Picnik’s Harvest Hash was on the sweeter side and a bit saucy. I knew that for my Harvest Hash, I wanted it to have some sauce but would like the flavors to have more of a heat to it with a subtle note of sweetness. To achieve this, I made a sauce with pure maple syrup and balsamic vinegar as its base and added a heavy pinch of red pepper flakes and dijon mustard to thicken it and add spice.
- The sprouts in Picnik’s hash were blackened and had crispy leaves which led me to believe that they may have been pan-fried or at least cooked with more oil than I’d prefer. To counter this, I tossed my sprouts in a light drizzle of olive oil and cooked them over low heat in a cast-iron pan to achieve the blackened flavor with a bit less fat.
- Lastly, Picnik’s Harvest Hash used beef breakfast sausage which I chose to replace with a lean turkey breakfast sausage. Since the breakfast sausage was pre-seasoned, I also left out the sage which was listed on Picnik’s ingredient list.
So how’d it turn out? DELICIOUS!
The Harvest Hash sauce had the perfect balance of sweet and spice. I chose to pour it over the hash right before serving that way the hash was more personalized to my liking and would coat the veggies without soaking in too much. I also served mine with a runny egg which helped add a ‘sauce’ to the hash without a lot of sweetness.
The flavors are definitely fall-centric with apples, maple, and pecans. I’m also positive sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts are destined to be best friends because their combined flavor is pure gold. I also loved how hearty the hash turned out. <3M and I chose to eat this for dinner one night and we had leftovers for a few more breakfasts later in the week.
If you try my Harevest Hash recipe, I’d love to know your thoughts and how it compares to the hash at Picnik (if you’ve had it!). Leave your thoughts in the comments.
What flavors do you associate with Fall? Do you have a cozy Fall breakfast you’re looking forward to?
- For the Hash:
- 2 small sweet potatoes
- 1 small yellow onion
- 12 ounces (1 bag) Brussel sprouts, washed & thoroughly dried
- 1 fuji apple
- 8 ounces lean breakfast sausage (turkey, pork or beef)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 teaspoons olive oil, separated
- ¼ cup roughly chopped pecans
- ¼ cup currants, optional
- salt & pepper to taste
- olive oil spray
- 4 eggs, cooked to your liking
- For the Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons spicy brown or dijon mustard
- ½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- First prep all your ingredients: peel the sweet potatoes and cut into ½ inch cubes, cut the yellow onion into quarter inch slices, mince the garlic cloves, peel the apple and cut into ¼ inch dice, remove the stem of the Brussel sprouts and cut into quarters, if you have small sprouts simply cut in half. Be sure to keep the spare leaves that fall off of the sprouts when cutting.
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together the maple syrup, vinegar, mustard and as mush red pepper flake as you desire in a small bowl and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375*F. In a medium sized bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with 2 teaspoons of olive oil plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes evenly onto a large baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes until just tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the rest of the dish. Spray a large skillet with olive oil and cook the breakfast sausage breaking it up into tiny pieces. Cook until lightly browned. Remove the breakfast sausage from the skillet and set a side. Do not clean the skillet.
- Spray the same skillet used to cook the breakfast sausage with olive oil and add in the onions and minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes. While the onions are cooking, toss the Brussel sprouts with the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
- Once the onions have softened add the sprouts to the skillet and cook over medium for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until sprouts are tender but not fully cooked through. Add in the diced apple and cook 3-4 minutes more until apples are soft and sprouts are cooked through. Turn the heat to low and add the breakfast sausage back to the skillet and stir to combine. Pour a ¼ cup of the dressing over the mixture and toss to combine. Remove from heat.
- When the sweet potatoes are done, add them to the skillet along with the chopped pecans, currants and stir. Season with salt and pepper or additional dressing, if desired. Serve immediately with a cooked egg on top and remaining dressing on the side if you’d like more of a sauce on the hash.
