I love a big breakie on a Sunday morning! Big Breakie, decaf tea, a glass of orange juice and the Sunday paper – I love Sundays!!! (I should probably admit at this point that I really only read the health and fitness section and the magazine inside the paper.)
No other day has the same ‘feel’ as Sunday. Years ago, I used to work on Sundays and it started to feel like any other day of the week – I really began to miss that Sunday ‘feel’. You can be as lazy as you want on a Sunday because it’s Sunday! You don’t even have to get out of your pyjamas if you don’t want to because it’s Sunday!
Back to the big breakie! There are a lot of elements to this big breakie but I can usually have it ready in an hour. If you have time the night before, make the pesto and that is one less thing to do in the morning.
If have found the most efficient way of getting everything cooked in time is to do it in this order:
- tomatoes
- potatoes on to boil
- cook mushrooms
- make pesto (or night before)
- fry potatoes
- cook spinach
The tomatoes are slow roasted in the oven so they need to go on first and then you prepare the rest while they are cooking.
Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Author: Sheraden Robins
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Ingredients
- Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sea Salt
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 150°C (300°F).
- Wash and dry cherry tomatoes. I prefer to use the truss tomatoes which are still on the vine because they look so pretty!
- Place a sheet of baking paper in a baking tray and put the tomatoes on top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Place in oven to cook slowly for about 1 hour. Check them every now and again to make sure that they don't need to come out early. They are ready when they are glistening, soft and shriveled a bit. If they start to crack early on, reduce the heat of your oven to 100°C (210°F)
- Once ready remove from oven and serve. If the rest of the breakfast isn't ready yet, you can cover with a sheet of foil until required.
Breakfast Potatoes
Author: Sheraden Robins
Prep time:
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 600g potatoes - chopped into cubes with skin on
- 2 tsp sea salt (plus more for seasoning)
- 1 tbsp rosemary - chopped finely
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- I like to keep the skins on the potatoes for this dish because it adds to the yummy crispy outsides of the potato pieces when you put them in the frypan. Chop potatoes into cubes (about an inch across) and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer until the potatoes are tender but still keeping their shape.
- Drain and leave to dry for a few minutes in the colander.
- When ready, heat the olive oil in a frypan. Add the potatoes and sprinkle over the sea salt and finely chopped rosemary. Turn occasionally with an egg flip so the sides get crispy and golden brown. Don't forget to scrap the bottom of the frypan for the yummy bits that get stuck to the bottom.
- They probably only need about 5 minutes and then remove heat and place in a bowl. You might need to cook in a couple of batches depending on the size of your frypan.
Mushrooms
Author: Sheraden Robins
Prep time:
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 250g mushrooms (portobello & white cap)
- 1 tbsp vegan margarine (double if cooking in 2 batches)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (double if cooking in 2 batches)
- sea salt to season
Instructions
- Gently wipe dirt off mushroom caps with a clean tea towel if required. Slice mushrooms and heat oil and vegan margarine in a frypan.
- Whenever I cook mushrooms I remember the quote from the movie 'Julie and Julia' (love that movie!) and that is 'don't crowd the mushrooms'. If I can believe the movie, this is something that Julia Child used to say and it is good advice. I do tend to crowd them a little more than I probably should but if you put too many mushrooms in a pan they won't cook properly and may end up stewing in their own juice rather than browning nicely. I usually cook mushrooms in a couple of batches to avoid this problem. If you do this, you may need more olive oil and vegan butter than in the ingredients list.
- Keep an eye on the mushrooms while they are cooking, if the pan is getting too much juice, increase the heat slightly so they don't stew. Stir mushrooms regularly so they cook on both sides. Sprinkle with sea salt as they cook. Mushrooms need to be well cooked for their full flavour to come out. When you think they are cooked, I suggest to taste one to make sure before removing them from the pan. The difference between tasteless mushrooms and delicious, bursting with flavour mushrooms can sometimes only be a 1 minutes extra in the pan. Salt is also important for helping to bring out their flavour.
- Transfer mushrooms to a bowl as cooked and cover until ready to serve.
Basil Pesto
Author: Sheraden Robins
Prep time:
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Ingredients
- 1 cup basil leaves - washed & tightly packed into cup
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor or stick mixer and blitz until smooth and well combined. You may have to scrape down sides a couple of times. Do a taste test and add extra seasoning if required. Then it is ready to serve. Sometimes I make this the night before to save time.
Wilted Baby English Spinach
Author: Sheraden Robins
Prep time:
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 240g baby English spinach
- 1 tsp olive oil
- sea salt to season
Instructions
- Add olive oil to the fry pan you cooked the mushrooms in (on medium heat). Don't wash it in between because the slight mushroom flavours with the spinach is pretty yummy.
- When the oil is hot, add the spinach. Turn in pad when it starts to wilt - this will only take a few seconds. Remove from pan as soon as it starts to wilt and loose shape. You still want it to have the vibrant green colour and you definitely don't want to singe it.
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