Yucca Hash

As much as I love my sweet potato hash on weekend mornings, it never hurts to mix it up a bit.  One of the nice things about NYC is that some grocery stores are good about stocking somewhat ethnic ingredients like yucca.  So it was definitely worth trying out this recipe.

The Recipe

1 yucca, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp each of paprika, pepper and salt
1/4 lb bacon, chopped (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
chopped green onion for garnish (optional)

Drop your chopped yucca in a pot, sprinkle with the spices and cover with water.  Bring to a low boil until yucca is soft, about 15-20 minutes.  Once that's well on the way to done, start crisping your bacon; if you're going vegetarian, wait a bit longer and heat some olive oil.  Then add your onion and garlic, and brown.  By then your yucca should be done.  Add it into your skillet, mix up, brown, and flip.  Once that's done, you're ready to eat, with or without your garnish.

Notes

The biggest question might be when your yucca is done.  Once it starts to look gooey around the edges, I'll poke a couple pieces with a fork to test softness.  I haven't quite figured it out, but also haven't turned out inedible hash.

Visually, the dish looks like it really needs some color - maybe the green onion garnish would help.  The taste is actually pretty solid though - pepper and paprika really come through.  Good stuff.

One yucca makes a heaping serving, more than enough for me: