healthy new year’s brunch – Happy Food Ninja

I blame Pinterest for this one, and the short days, and just feeling a little homesick after the move. Not that this dish would be found anywhere near Cambridge, MA, but it would be found in Wisconsin where I’m originally from. All I can think when I look at this is “careful, your midwest is showing.” That being said it is everything a midwest dish should be; homey, salty, comforting, easy, cheesy, serves a crowd, and topped with tater tots. It is truly perfect for New Year’s Day because you can make it ahead of time, and just hang out drinking coffee while it bakes in the morning. You can start your New Years resolution eating at lunch.

This is a perfect dish for when you have overnight guests as it feeds a crowd with minimal effort, and will make most anyone happy if they are ok with tater tots for breakfast. And if they aren’t, well, you might want to decide if you need that kind of negativity in your life. If you really want to make it minimal effort in the morning just sauté your vegetables the night before and assemble the morning of.

Happy Midwestern Breakfast to you. I hope you’re holidays are merry and bright.

Ingredients

Oil for cooking
2 cups chopped kale or mixture of vegetables -spinach, chard, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever
1 leek, sliced lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced into half moods if you don’t have a leek onion will be fine in a small dice.
salt and pepper for seasoning
1/4 package soyrizo or 2 vegetarian breakfast sausages that have been warmed and chopped (optional)
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk
1 cup shredded cheese – I like goat cheddar, but most anything will be good here
1/2 LB frozen tater tots

Instructions

Butter a 9×9 square baking pan.
Preheat oven to 375 – if you’re prepping this a day ahead obviously do not preheat the oven. Wait until the morning are planning to cook please.
Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.
Add oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.
Add kale and leek and cook stirring frequently until softened, 5-7 minutes.
Season kale and leeks with salt and pepper, then stir in soyrizo or breakfast sausage and remove from heat.
Spread the cooked vegetables and fake meat into the bottom of the buttered baking pan.
Top with cheese.- At this point you can cover everything tightly and refrigerate until the next morning.- If you’re making it all the day of just continue on my friend.
In the morning whisk together the eggs and milk and pour the egg mixture over the top of the vegetables.
Place the still frozen tater tots in the egg mixture in a single layer and put the whole thing in the preheated oven.
Cook until the tater tots are golden brown and crispy and the egg is set in the middle, about 30-35 minutes.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before cutting and devouring.

I haven’t been very good at posting for the last few weeks. I’m sorry. I am struggling with cooker’s block. With everything that has been going on (new baby and all) it has been a bit of a cooking rut for me. I’m starting to break out and have been focusing on making some new recipes. It is a process to get them where I am comfortable posting them for your consumption. It is my New Year’s resolution to cook something new once a week. Please hold me to it.

For now I have some amazing standby recipes for your New Year’s Brunch. Tweet me @happyfoodninja if you have a substitution question because you are in your pajamas and can’t be bothered to go to the store for some crazy ingredient.

Now, for brunch.