Thursday, July 26, 2007

For Lack of Anything Else to Post.....Breakfast!

Until I can get any recent pictures off of my camera (don't ask!) I figured I'd share here some of my favorite things to feast on in the morning as breakfast can be a vegan's most challenging endeavor in the kitchen. I mean, I love me some scrambled tofu but you can only have so much of it, right? I've pretty much posted all of these before. I'll be back with some new stuff soon. Promise!
VWaV's Revolutionary Omelet sans sauce (tho that roasted red pepper sauce is aMAZing) but with fresh avocado. I love making this omelet and then having leftovers for breakfast for days.


Sweet Potato Latkes with warm cinnamon apples

Fried Seitan O' Greatness slices with a side of grits and millet toast

Lifestream's Hemp Waffles with organic maple syrup, walnuts, and bananas (their Flax Seed Waffle is pretty amazing as well). I love the ease of these, and they're healthy, bonus!

VWaV's Sausage Tempeh Crumbles with FYH cheeze, herbed roasted potatoes, fresh avocado, & fresh mango (this is easily a favorite of mine)

And speaking of the Fauxsage Crumbles, throwing them in some vegan gravy on top of biscuits with a side of fresh fruit? this is another I can't get enough of in the morning. Mmmmmm.

If ya think making vegan biscuits is great (I highly recommend the versions in How It All Vegan and the tip to just mix then spoon into muffin tins rather than try and roll out and cut a biscuit dough. These come out puffy and light and perfect every time and for biscuits? That's sayin somethin!)....VWaV's Fronch toast (made here with whole wheat french bread and served with organic strawberries, bananas, and maple syrup) is simply divine.

But my all time favorite is still the recipe I figured out after weekend brunching at one of my favorite restaurants. If I've said it once, I've said it a MILLION times....

Pan Seared Oatmeal. Quite possibly the most amazing and satisfying (not to mention healthy!) vegan breakfast of all time. Here's how....

Perfect Pan Seared Oatmeal

Make a Day Ahead:
Prepare one cup steel cut oats according to package directions. (MUST use steel cut and not quick cooking/rolled oats)
After removing from heat, add 1-2 T maple syrup and a bit of soy milk to make it creamier but you won't need much. You want to keep it thick.
Place in small plastic containers. (I keep my EB/Smart Balance containers for this. One cup dry will fill about two and a half tubs).
Allow to cool to room temperature in sealed containers before putting in fridge.

The Day of You'll need:
banana, sliced
dried cranberries
raisins
walnuts, chopped
balsamic vinegar glaze*
vegan margarine

Remove top from tub and dump out oatmeal. It will be one solid mass having conformed to the shape of the tub. Slice into disks about 3/4 inch thick. work quickly and carefully as it will want to turn to mush the longer it sits out of the refrigerator.

Heat margarine over medium heat in skillet. Place disc(s) of oatmeal in pan and pan sear for 4-5 min per side until golden brown and remove.

Drizzle glaze (in fancy design of your making ;) onto plate and place disc(s) on top of it. Top with walnuts, cranberries, raisins, banana and a quick drizzle of agave nectar.

Enjoy...then come back and thank me for gifting you this most amazing breakfast treat. Everyone I've fed it to is just blown away by how good this is. Thank you, 43rd Street Deli for the inspiration!

*make sure you're using a balsamic vinegar glaze. if you cannot find one you can make one by bringing regular balsamic vinegar to a boil and then until reduced down to a syrup...tho i warn you, you're entire kitchen and possibly your whole house will be overwhelmed with the smell of the acidic liquid. it's not very mild on the nose, so try and get your hands on a ready made glaze if you can.

13 comments:

Kayla said...

Mmm, breakfast.. The pan seared oatmeal sounds like a neat idea. I love oatmeal, so I will have to try this. Thanks for sharing the idea!

Anonymous said...

your breakfast are incredible!!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Yum.... I skipped breakfast this morning (I hate it when I do that) so viewing yours has made me very hungry indeed. I have actually really been craving oatmeal lately, I think I must try your recipe ASAP!! Everything else looks wonderful too.

Anonymous said...

i could just eat breakfast all day long. while i was pregnant, i made/ate tons of breakfast foods. cereal, french toast, etc. between that and then eating baked ziti every night (during the height of my pregnancy, i was rewatching the entire sopranos collection), i'm surprised i didn't gain a zillion pounds!

laura k said...

Yum... breakfast is my favorite. These dishes look absolutely delicious--enough to get me cooking on a Saturday morning, I think!

Anonymous said...

whoa your breakfast looks very appetizing :) i only cook breakfast on weekends, but i do wish i could have it every day...

Anonymous said...

I usually just eat a slice of toast (a heavy, filling brand) for breakfast or a small bowl of cereal. However I occasionally break out of my pattern and spice it up a bit. Your oatmeal suggestion is one I will definitely have to try. I remember when you posted about it a while back but I must have forgotten about it. I don't have any steel cut oats right now but the next time I go to the store I'll pick some up because now I'm really excited about making it (who wouldn't be with that accompanying picture). :)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

oh my goodness look at all that delicious food!! that pan-seared oatmeal is by far my favorite :0)

Beth said...

I love me some french toast!!!! Looks heavenly... i think my breakfast is vegan too... kashi autumn wheat and vanilla rice milk... breakfast of lazy people all over america :)

TB said...

GORGEOUS breakfasts! i love pan seared oatmeal and i love those hemp waffles, and you posted about a million things i've been wanting to make forever. i love the biscut trick. i hadn't noticed that before.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Oh wow!! I made the pan seared oatmeal using your recipe this morning and it was amazing! Thanks so much for posting it. I'll be posting my results likely tonight or tomorrow morning. :-)

Jenni Shortt said...

what an inspiration! I'll save your blog to my favourites, and read it later
X.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful recipe! My daughter loved it. I used raspberry flavored balsamic glaze, which she loves on her salad. I put the oatmeal in starfrit tubs used for shaping and storing hamburger patties - they have separate discs so you have the oatmeal patties ready to go!

Thanks,
Crystal