GREEN EGGS & YAMS

Green Eggs & Yams image

Pesto-smothered roasted yams (or sweet potatoes), topped with an egg and drizzled with more pesto. In this case, it's easy being green!

Provided by Kare for Kitchen Treaty

Time 1h

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

1 pound yams or sweet potatoes (peeled, roughly 3/4-inch dice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional, just adds a nice little touch of savory smokiness)
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)
1/3 cup pine nuts**
2 medium cloves garlic (roughly minced)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast***
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
4 large eggs

Steps:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place yams in a medium bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Toss to coat potatoes. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (if using). Spread on a large rimmed cookie sheet. Place yams in oven and cook, turning every 15 minutes or so, until tender and browned on some sides, about 30 minutes.
While the yams cook, make the pesto and heat the water for the poached eggs. Fill a medium pan 2/3 of the way with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
To make the pesto, place basil, thyme if using, pine nuts, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and 1/4 cup olive oil in the pitcher of a blender or in a small food processor fitted with the "s" blade. Puree until nearly smooth, drizzling in more olive oil as needed (I usually need right around 1/3 cup). Taste and stir in additional salt if desired.
Place roasted potatoes in a medium bowl and top with 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Toss gently until coated. Divide potatoes between two plates.
Lastly, poach your eggs! Your water should not be rapidly boiling but instead be barely moving, with a few small bubbles rising to the surface. Crack eggs into the water, hovering right over the surface so that the eggs don't have far to drop. Cook for 3 minutes for a very runny yolk or 3 1/2 minutes for thicker (yet still runny) yolk.
Remove eggs with a slotted spoon, taking care to tilt the spoon to discard as much of the cooking water as possible. Top the potatoes with the poached eggs. Drizzle with remaining pesto and sprinkle with a light dusting of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with basil if desired. Serve!