Dinner Together: easy, portable egg cups come together quickly

Busy weekday mornings can take some careful coordination. That is, if you want to send everyone out the door with the right gear, lunches and some breakfast in their bellies.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take much work to trim a little time from that morning routine. These hearty, portable breakfast egg cups can be made on the weekend and reheated quickly. Or, they come together quickly in a pinch.

Shredded sweet potatoes or yams make a delicious and colorful base for the eggs, but Russets are a fine choice, because, hey, you’re flexible like that.

Since they are essentially mini frittatas, you can customize each one for your family.

Once you’ve made the sweet potato crust, scramble the eggs and add some favorites to each one. Mine had ham, sharp cheddar, onion, red peppers and green onion.

My youngest son opted for chicken breakfast sausage chunks, cheddar and green onion.

For my hubby, who is not big on scrambling, I just cracked the egg right on top of the sweet potatoes for a clean eating, sunny-side up effect.

I used a pan with individual square cups but a regular muffin tin will work just fine.

Many of the recipes I found online called for using silicone baking cups, but olive oil spray kept these from sticking to my pan.

Top with some salsa, a drizzle of hot sauce or some avocado. Squish these babies between a whole wheat English muffin to make them more portable if it seems too messy to eat them out of hand.

Here’s a recipe to help you get started, but improvise if you like.

Sweet Potato Egg Nests

1 large yam or sweet potato, grated

6 large eggs, whisked in a small bowl

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh thyme or parsley, to taste

1/4 cup diced sweet bell peppers

1/4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic

6 ounces chicken sausage links, cooked and cut into half moons

1-2 ounces sharp cheddar

1/4 cup green onion, sliced

Salsa, avocado, hot pepper sauce, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Press the grated yam or sweet potato into the bottom and up the sides of a well-greased muffin tin.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, scramble the eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Add a little thyme or parsley, if desired.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté diced peppers and onion until soft. Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute.

Remove potato nests from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Evenly split the sautéed onion and pepper mix, chicken sausage, sharp cheddar and green onion between each cup. Fill 3/4 full with the scrambled egg mixture.

Return to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the egg is cooked through.

Yield: 6 individual egg nests