good morning! or afternoon. or, whenever you read this. i figured since this is my last "official" meatless monday in the month of september, i would post some special breakfast/brunch recipes as a sort of celebration for making it through an entire month of meatless eating one day a week. as my rad former captain jeff used to say, "go big or go home," right? plus, i don't know how you are all enjoying this blog, but i am having a great time writing it. whether you like it or not, i'm gonna keep going! probably not on a weekly basis, but often enough. i will keep posting recipes i think are share-worthy, and any little anecdotes if find funny, interesting, or useful. i hope that's cool with you. on with the show, then?
brie and egg strata
12 servings (i guess i eat at lot b/c we prob only had about 6-8 servings)
this first recipe i made for my dadoo who came up for brunch one father's day. this was before i was vegan, it's eggy and cheesy, which usually equals yummy. and even my dadoo, who's quite the meat man, really liked it. it's pretty easy to put together, and it's one of those recipes that can be made the night before, so in the morning, all you have to do is pop it in the oven and wait! i served this with a nice fruit salad of berries, peaches, and grapes, and it was totally delish! (plus, i think i even impressed the dadoo)
*if you do assemble it the night before, assemble and layer the casserole without the egg mixture (steps 1 & 2); cover and refrigerate. combine the egg mixture (step 3), and refrigerate in a separate container. in the morning, pour the egg mixture over the bread and let stand 30 minutes before baking.
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups diced, unpeeled yukon gold potato (1 large)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 pound ciabatta, cut into 1-inch cubes, toasted
cooking spray
4 ounces brie cheese, rind removed, and chopped (i like the ile de france, (i think?) from trader joe's)
1 cup egg substitute
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups 1% low-fat milk (or even soy milk works!)
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1. heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. add onion, potato, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. stir in tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes. stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt. combine onion mixture and bread.
2. place half of the bread mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. sprinkle with half of brie. top with remaining bread mixture and remaining brie.
3. place egg substitute and eggs in a medium bowl. add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, herbes de Provence, and pepper. add milk, stirring with a whisk until well blended. pour egg mixture over bread mixture. let stand 30 minutes.
4. preheat oven to 350º.
5. bake at 350º for 50 minutes or until set. sprinkle with parsley. serve immediately.
scrambled tofu
4 servings
this is another breakfast/brunch recipe i made for others. i took a trip to the jersey shore and made brunch for my fabulous friends butter lickin' buns and cookie, in exchange for letting me crash the party. i've been told that cookie's got a texture thing about food, and hasn't has much luck with vegetarian or vegan fare, but he liked it! at least, he said he did. i really don't think cookie would bullshit me anyway. with that said, i present to you a totally yummy breakfast scramble that is totally tasty either alone, or wrapped in a tortilla with some salsa and guacamole, (which is what i did). i really can't do brunch without potatoes, so i would suggest either the basic homefries or roasted potatoes. since i was making this at the destination, i pre-made a roasted potato and red pepper salad with white beans and took it along. it was the perfect accompaniment!
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (some containers say brewer's yeast)
*if you don't have nutritional yeast, or don't want to use it, you can still make the recipe, just don't add any water when cooking
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 carrot, peeled (optional. it's grated in at the end mostly for color)
for spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
if doing breakfast burritos:
soft tortillas (i like trader joe's handmade whole wheat, or habañero-lime tortillas)
salsa
guacamole
- heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. sauté the onions for about 3 minutes, or until softened; add the mushrooms, sauté for 5 minutes; add the garlic, sauté for 2 minutes. add the spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. add 1/4 cup water to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.
- crumble in the tofu and mix well. don't crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. you want it to remain chunky. let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. lower the heat a bit if you find that the tofu is sticking. add the lemon juice. add the nutritional yeast and mix it up. if the mixture is sticking to the pann, add splashes of water. the moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.
- grate the carrot into the tofu mixture and fold. tofu scramble is done, so serve whichever way you want it! also goes really well with plain toast if you're lacking in the tortilla department!
well, that's all i got for ya. trust me, you will not be disappointed with either one of these recipes. i will even go far enough to say that the eggy brie strata thing is quite the sophisticated brunchy option, and will impress even the most uptight houseguests you may have. in-laws? the umcomfortable and rich aunt and uncle? republicans? ;) oops, i've said too much.
but seriously, i wish you all the best of luck with your breakfast options, and hope you're eating more and healthier things than frosted pop-tarts and count chocula. but man, i know. count chocula is just so good still, right? the milk turns chocolate!
thanks again for reading, and i really hope to hear from some of you if you try these recipes, or just want to bitch me out for my uptight republican comment. if i need to provoke an argument to hear from anyone, so be it.
peace, love & yum,
lisa
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