Last week I participated in the first-ever Highbrow Cook Off, hosted by Highbrow Paleo (an online collection of citizen scientists, researchers, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, book readers, comedians, modern homesteaders, political analysts, hunters and huntresses, foragers, eaters of guts – eyeballs – and insects, devoted followers of OakOy and culinary explorers).

The rules were simple:

– only use the ingredients outlined

– use of pre-approved pantry items is unlimited

– only use minimal processing, and minimal kitchen equipment, as outlined

– keep track of how much you spend on the ingredients

– will not use more than 3 kitchen gadgets/utensils, and nothing powered except the oven or stove top

For this first iteration, the incorporated ingredients were kale, mushrooms, onions, eggs, and a tuber. After a little deliberation, I settled on the idea of a baked sweet potato, with the veggies/eggs as toppings. Turned out beautifully! I was so happy with the results I thought that I should share it here as well. Total cost of the meal was about $2.

You’ll Need :

2 eggs

1 large sweet potato

2 stalks of kale, chopped coarsely

2 oz white mushrooms, sliced

1/2 small onion or 1 shallot, chopped finely

4 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp chicken stock

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1/2 tsp fresh dill, chopped finely

a sprinkle of dried red chili pepper flakes

Utensils:

1 knife

1 wooden spoon

1 medium-sized piece of tinfoil

Hardware:

1 pot or dutch oven

1 egg pan

1 oven

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potato and poke with holes using knife. Add the sweet potato to the oven, place a piece of tin foil underneath to catch drippings. Bake for 50 minutes or until soft to the touch.

After the potato has baked for 25 minutes, add 2 tbsp of the ghee to the pot/dutch oven and warm on medium heat. Add the onion/shallot and sauté for 3 minutes, until aromatic. Turn the heat down to med/low, add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, and continue to sauté for another 6-8 minutes, until the mushrooms are softened and most of the liquid has cooked out of them. Add the kale, chicken stock, and chili pepper flakes and cover. Turn the heat down to low and cook for five minutes.

After five minutes, remove the cover and return the heat to med/low and allow the stock to mostly evaporate. Stir with wooden spoon every minute or so. While that’s happening, fry the two eggs with the remaining ghee and flip them halfway through. Before flipping, sprinkle them with the fresh dill. Cook to desired doneness (over medium is probably best for this dish – solid whites but runny yolk).

Remove the sweet potato and cut in half lengthwise. Place the eggs on top of the potato and pour the remaining ghee on top. Top with the kale/mushrooms/onion monstrosity.

Be sure to check out the other unique (and tasty) submissions over at Highbrow Paleo!