Serendipotatoes

ser·en·dip·i·ty/ˌserənˈdipitē/

Noun:

The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way: "a fortunate stroke of serendipity.

(source)

Today after church when the little guy asked what was for lunch, I found myself reluctantly saying, "How about pancakes?" You see, pancakes (+ eggs or chicken sausage) are one of my go-to, last-resort, cupboards-are-bare meals. I can mix them up on a moment's notice, probably even in my sleep. Goodness knows I stopped using a recipe for them ages ago. While I try to mix up the mix-ins and toppings so we never really eat the same 'cakes twice, today I was really, really not looking forward to another stack.

I started rummaging through the freezer to see if there was something, ANYthing, I could put into those pancakes that would make them remotely more interesting. That's when I unearthed a bag of frozen cubed potatoes. I had utterly forgotten about it! My wheels started turning... I had potatoes, onion, bell pepper... I hate the word, but could I come up with a decent hash?

Oh yeah, baby. I ran the potatoes under water for a few seconds to start thawing, then added them to a hot skillet with grapeseed oil and diced onion. A little of this (kosher salt, black pepper, dried dill) and a little of that (diced ham, red bell pepper, fresh tomatoes, salsa, garlic-and-chili-infused macadamia oil) made its way into the skillet. When I was happy with how that looked and tasted, I quickly cooked a few eggs in another non-stick skillet and slid them on top of each serving.

With a little dash of Frank's, my one true love, this meal was complete. And gooooood. So good, in fact, that I didn't even miss the white cheddar I had forgotten to grate on top. It didn't even cross my mind until I was cleaning up the kitchen and saw the cheese on the counter.

With a scrambled egg instead of a runny one, this would make a great breakfast burrito. This meal can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the ham, and could be vegan-ized by omitting the ham and topping with scrambled tofu instead of eggs.