Hawaiian Hash

This was an interesting recipe, chosen for dinner because I was looking for something to serve with macaroni salad that wasn’t a hamburger or hot dog. I considered adding ham (which is the ingredient I pulled from the freezer) to the salad and having sweet potatoes on the side, but since the macaroni salad was leftover from a Hawaiian luau*, when I saw a recipe for Hawaiian Hash, it bumped to the top of the list. Besides, I was quite intrigued to discover what Hawaiian Hash looked and tasted like. It’s not our favorite, and we would double the ham and halve the sweet potatoes, but it was a delicious experiment, and also helped use the pineapple and macadamia nuts that have been sitting in the pantry for a while. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Hawaiian Hash

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 cup onion chopped
• 2 cups sweet potato peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup red pepper chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup ham diced
• 1/2 cup pineapple tidbits
• 1/8 cup salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds toasted
• 2 tablespoons macadamia nuts chopped

Heat the oils in a skillet and add onions, sweet potatoes and red pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger and water. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except the nuts) and heat through. Serve hot. Garnish with nuts if desired.

*One of our friends returned from his mission to Hawaii. He and another friend had a welcome home party COVID style. Aren’t they ingenious?