Sports Nutrition: Post-Workout Sweet Potato Hash with Chicken and Poached Eggs

By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach

For career professionals and working parents, weekends tend to be when we pile on the training hours. If you’re like me, you think about your meal 10 miles into your 60-mile training ride or 30 minutes into your 2-hour training run. By the time you get back to your house you are not only starving, you have come up with 10 options that are intricately prepared, savory and delicious. You don’t know what to do first: shower or eat! Well here’s a tasty meal idea that will impress your friends and training buddies and will certainly satisfy your post-workout cravings.

Sweet Potato Hash with Chicken and Poached Eggs

This great new twist on hash packs a serious nutritional punch. Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene and a good source of protein and carbohydrate. To save time, you can make extra hash (without the eggs) and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Though the nutritional information at the bottom reflects the 6 ounces of chicken in the recipe, you can swap out for 6 ounces of firm tofu quite easily. Just press the tofu, season and sear to desired consistency. And if you don’t already have one, a stove-top egg poacher is great for athletes who want a simple way to cook eggs without additional fat from butter or oil.

Makes 2 servings

Active time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into ½” cubes
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• Salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (6 ounces), but widthwise into ½” – thick slices
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 2 large eggs
• Hot- pepper sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potato, onion, bell pepper, and a pinch each of salt and black pepper. Cook, tossing, for 5 minutes, or until the potato begins to brown. Add the chicken, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink.
2. While the chicken is cooking, add 1 ½” water to a small skillet. Add the vinegar and bring to a low simmer. Crack the eggs into a bowl, and gently slide one at a time into the water. Cook at a low simmer for 4 minutes, or until the whites set and the yolks are still soft and runny. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. (to make this easier, you can buy a stove-top egg poacher like this one.)
3. Season the hash to taste with the salt and pepper, and serve hot with eggs and hot pepper sauce, if desired.

Nutritional Data

• Calories/serving: 297
• Carbohydrate: 17 grams
• Protein: 28 grams
• Fat: 13 grams
• Sat Fat: 3 grams
• Sodium: 144 milligrams
• Fiber: 3 grams

Jim Rutberg is a Pro Coach for Carmichael Training Systems and co-author, with Chris Carmichael, of seven books on training and sports nutrition, including “Food for Fitness” and “The Time-Crunched Triathlete”.