Red Flannel Hash

I actually came across this recipe back when I was searching for beet-dessert recipes. This is definitely not a dessert, but it sounded very intriguing. Apparently, it's a classic New England dish. It often has meat, but I decided to mimic this recipe, which uses eggs but no meat, because that meant I didn't have to buy a single ingredient. I also liked that this version basically cooks itself.

Ingredients:
Neutral-tasting cooking oil (I used 1/3 c. canola)
Beets, diced (I used 4 pretty large beets)
Red potatoes, diced (I used about the same amount of potatoes as beets)
Onion, chopped fairly finely (I used half a Walla Walla Sweet Onion)
Freshly pressed garlic (I used 3 large cloves)
Fresh herb(s) of your choice, to taste (optional; I used thyme)
Coarse salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Granulated garlic/garlic powder, to taste (optional)
Seasoning, to taste (I used Old Bay Seasoning; the original recipe didn't call for seasoning, but I thought it needed some)
Fresh parsley, chopped (I used about 1/2 c. from our garden)
Eggs (I used 4)
Shredded cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed, oven-safe skillet. (You could probably use a baking dish instead, but I'm not sure it would cook quite the same.) Put the skillet in the preheated oven until the oil is nice and hot. Add the beets, potatoes, onion, garlic, some salt, some pepper, fresh herbs (if using), and granulated garlic (if using) to the skillet. Stir to combine and coat everything with the oil. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Then stir the mixture and cook it for about another 25 minutes, until the beets and potatoes are cooked through. Everything will look a little brown, crispy, and delicious. Remove the skillet from the oven. Add seasoning to taste and stir in the parsley. Make indentations in the mixture, and crack an egg into each indentation. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Put the skillet back in the oven until the eggs are cooked to your preference. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the eggs with cheese, if desired.

Comments:
This one was a winner. We all liked it quite well, and Annika had seconds. We ate it for dinner, but it would be an awesome breakfast, too. We do think it would be even better as a winter meal; it uses standard winter vegetables, and Steve did say, "I'm sweating" while eating it in our non-air conditioned house. He also said he thought it would be amazing with bacon. (Surprise, suprise. This coming from the man who once said, "If I were to die from eating something fattening, it would be bacon.") This is another dish that lends itself well to improvisation. I found so many different recipes for red flannel hash, but they were all basically beets, potatoes, and onions with other stuff; you just choose what the other stuff is. You could even abandon the red-flannel idea--skipping the beets and just using just potatoes and other stuff (e.g., sausage, peppers, cheese, other fresh herbs), or you could substitute sweet potatoes. However you make it, enjoy!