I’ve stated it before, I.LOVE.BRUNCH. Unfortunately for vegans, having brunch out can be challenging and limiting since most standard brunch fare contains eggs and dairy. I’ve written (http://katmendenhall.com/2014/04/03/sundown-brunch/) how that doesn’t stop me from enjoying brunch time with my friends since there are several great vegan friendly restaurants around town that offer up some pretty awesome dishes. This Sunday though that wasn’t going to happen. Between preparing for an open house (we are selling!), my daughter moving out over the weekend (sigh…), a prediction of severe storms (dodged that one!) and a whole lot of food in my fridge I needed to use up, brunch was happening at home.
When I work out at my local Y several times a week I typically watch the food network. Yes, that does make perfect sense and yes it does make me hungry. Since I work alone from home, I enjoy the 45 to 60 minutes I get with Ina, Ree, or Trisha. Recently I caught an episode of Trisha making one of Garth’s (love him!) favorite comfort breakfast dishes. Needless to say it was the farthest thing from vegan you’ve ever seen but a dish I thought I could easily veganize and that y’all is exactly what I did.
Let it first be known, this is not standard fare at my house or in my diet but hey sometimes you just have to break the rules and this dish was well worth breaking a few. Let me introduce you to Kat’s Breakfast Bonanza:
A one pot wonder that includes layers of all your vegan breakfast favorites.
This is taking vegan comfort food to the next level y’all. Perfect for a potluck.
I served it up with some toasted gluten-free bread and local organic strawberries. A big winner with my carnivore daughter, and it kept us fueled and full to get us through what was one busy afternoon.
Here’s the recipe for those of you who are tempted, or just want to break a few rules.
Kat’s Breakfast Bonanza
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
½ red onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 package of Tempeh Bacon
1 package of Field Roast Breakfast Sausage, Apple Maple
1 block of extra firm organic tofu, diced in to bite size pieces
8oz mushrooms, chopped
8oz of spinach
½ cup of water or vegetable stock
I package of Daiya Cheddar Cheese
1 package of organic tator tots
Salt & pepper to taste
*Hot sauce – optional
To make:
- Preheat the oven for the tots.
- Prepare the tempeh bacon according to package directions and set aside.
- Put tator tots in the oven and cook according to package directions, crispy is best!
- Heat a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and all the peppers and cook until slightly softened. Crumble the breakfast sausage in to the pan with the onions and peppers until browned. Remove all ingredients from pan and set aside in a bowl.
- Use the same heated pan and add a ½ cup of water or vegetable stock. Add the tofu and mushrooms. Cook until the tofu turns golden. Add the spinach, cover the pan and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and salt and pepper to taste.
- Take the tator tots from the oven.
- Begin assembling the dish in a deep-set bowl. Start with the tator tots on the bottom, then add the sausage pepper mixture, layer the cheese on top of that, then break the bacon in pieces and layer it on top of sausage mixture, top it with the tofu, mushroom, spinach mix.
- Serve generously on a plate cause your going to love this. Add hot sauce or avocado if that’s your thing.