Project Kale: Easter Recipes Part 1: BRUNCH!

It's springtime which means it's time for all those spring celebrations - Easter, Passover, Spring Equinox, Mother's Day, etc.

I absolutely love brunch - it's pretty much my favorite meal. And even though I'm vegan, and don't eat brunch that often, I just love the idea of a long, leisurely meal; one where you can stuff your face because you're really eating for two meals! Genius!

A vegan brunch requires some planning - because besides fruit salad and mimosas, most brunch dishes contain egg, sausage or bacon. Which means they contain fat, cholesterol, cancer-promoting proteins, etc., etc. BUT that doesn't mean us plant-based rock stars can't enjoy a nice, lovely brunch!

Here's a sample menu of what I would make for Easter brunch - including the recipes I'm about to share:

Mushroom & Asparagus Quiche
Hashbrowns
Fruit Salad
Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake
Mimosas!

For the hashbrowns, you can just dice up some russet potatoes, or buy them frozen, and saute them with some diced green peppers, onions and minced garlic. Season them with a little salt and pepper, and you're done! To avoid all the fat from the oil, just saute in a light spray of oil, then finish off in the oven, to attain the crispness that you would get from the oil. Easy and pretty fool proof!

I found both the quiche and cake recipes from this great site. I love her recipes because not only are they vegan, they are nutritious and fat free!

The Mushroom & Asparagus Quiche is amazing and truly has the same texture and flavor as traditional quiche. I really love that the crust is gluten-free using just whole grain brown rice. It compliments the creamy texture of the filling well. It's a go-to recipe for me and quite versatile - feel free to change it up with any veggies or herbs you have on hand!

The Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake is another winner. This recipe is not gluten-free, as it uses whole wheat flour; however, it has minimal ingredients - no butter, no eggs, no oil. You would think it would be pretty bland but you'd be WRONG! Ann and I devoured half the cake right after it came out of the oven. So moist, so flavorful. The chai tea gives it great moisture and a hint of spiciness, while the coconut give it amazing texture.

Let us know - what are your favorite healthy brunch dishes?

Tomorrow we will feature easy Easter dinner recipes - as a preview, I have just one word for you: Stuffing.

Love & Kale,
Ali

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Mushroom & Asparagus Quiche
Serves: About 8 slices

This blogger would prefer that I link you to her site to print off the recipe. So you can find the recipe here or just click on the title. She has a great printable version on her site. I will still you step by step instructions here though. I made just a couple of minor changes to her recipe:

I did not use tahini (I ran out)
I did not use vegan parmesan
I did not saute the asparagus with the other veggies - just tossed it in and let it cook in the oven. Otherwise, it might get mushy.

Ingredients

Add the filling ingredients to the food processor - process.

Filling all smooth and ready to go!

Dice up your veggies - shallots, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper.

Saute your veggies in a little water

Spray your pan with a little oil

Put your brown rice (mixed with a little filling) into the pan

Push it down until it's even and up the sides a little. Bake for 8 min, then take out and fill.

Dice up your asparagus and leave the tips to the side

Put all your veggies and filling into the crust.

Add your asparagus tips to the top (be fancy about it) and stick it in the oven

Done - SO FANCY AND SO YUMMY!!

Mmm - delicious vegan quiche!

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Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake

Serves: About 8 slices

Again, Susan would prefer that I link you to her site to print off the recipe. So you can find the recipe here or just click on the title. She has a great printable version on her site. I will still you step by step instructions here though. I made just one minor changes to her recipe:

Instead of 3/4 cup of sugar, I used only about 1/2 cup, if that. I try to stay away from sugar, plus this is a breakfast cake, so it doesn't need to be super sweet. I found it plenty sweet with the 1/2 cup.