Brown Butter-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Arugula and Fried Shallots

This is a delicious side dish -- it is really more than a salad as it is served warm and the greens are somewhat wilted.  I also later converted it to a vegetarian entrée by topping it with a fried egg.

7-8 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

6 T unsalted butter
pinch of crushed red pepper
2 t sage leaves, thinly sliced
1 T fresh thyme, chopped
kosher salt, pepper

6 oz baby arugula

4-6 shallots, diced very small
vegetable oil for frying

Toss the sweet potato cubes with the brown sugar and set aside.

Brown the butter.  Place butter in small saucepan over medium low heat and allow it to cook until it becomes deep brown - but be sure to catch it before it burns (a fine line).  Remove saucepan from the heat and add spices to brown butter (crushed red pepper, sage, and thyme).  Pour butter mixture over the sweetened sweet potatoes and toss to coat well.  Season with 1T kosher salt and plenty of pepper.  Transfer coated sweet potatoes to a parchment lined baking sheet.  They should be in a single layer (you may need two pans for this).  Roast sweet potatoes for about 45 minutes until they are nicely caramelized (again, deep brown edges but not burnt).

While sweet potatoes roast, fry the diced shallots in a small pan with a 1/4 inch of vegetable oil that is sizzling hot.  The shallots will fry up quickly so keep an eye on them and remove to a paper towel to soak up extra oil.

In a large bowl, toss roasted sweet potatoes with fresh arugula.  Top each serving with fried shallots.