Cheddar Dill Breakfast Quinoa & Brunch with the Girls

Don’t you love when you totally throw something completely random and new together in the kitchen and it ends up being a huge success!?

That’s what happened in this kitchen last weekend.

This time it was breakfast, and I love making breakfast on the weekends so it was fun coming up with something new and different.  If it bombed?  Oh well, it was the weekend and I could make something else :)

We had a container of leftover, cooked quinoa in the fridge.  There was a good amount of it, so I was hoping to incorporate it into breakfast!  I’ve seen various “breakfast quinoas” around the blog world…many times made similar to oatmeal (which I want to try), but I was more in the mood for something savory.

Plus some cheese and fresh herbs make anything better.

I give you…

Cheddar Dill Breakfast Quinoa
serves 2

• 1T olive oil
• 1/4 cup white or yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup cooked quinoa (really you can use as much as you want, obviously the texture will change as the ratio of quinoa to egg is altered).
• 3 eggs
• splash of milk (about 2T)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1T fresh chopped dill

In a non-stick skillet heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until just getting soft.  Add in quinoa, and continue to sauté for another 2-4 minutes. 

In a small bowl, crack in eggs and beat together with a fork.  Add milk and beat that into the eggs.  Pour eggs into quinoa mixture.  Season with a little salt and pepper.  After about 30 seconds, start to scramble mixture together.  Add in dill.  Continue to cook/scramble.  Once eggs are just about done to the point where you like your scramble eggs cooked, add in cheese.  Give another stir and remove from heat.

We had ours with some bacon and sides of yogurt with a sauce of cooked down berries (plus some lemon juice and maple syrup) and walnuts.

Iced latte

We both LOVED the quinoa!!  I think I liked the texture even more than regular scrambled eggs.  Plus the possibilities are endless for flavors…different cheeses, herbs, spices, veggies.  The beauty of breakfast egg dishes :)

Try this!!

Keeping with a breakfast theme…I’d also like to share some photos from a brunch I had at my place with a few of my girl friends.  You know how sometimes there are friends or groups of friends that you just don’t see as often as you’d like or used to see?  Well that was my problem.  So to solve it I just invited them over one Sunday morning for a quick and delightful brunch!

I was excited to do a “girly” table setting with some pink linens.

I love using baskets and trays to group my centerpieces

I actually was too busy prepping food and chatting that I forgot to snap some photos before we ate!!  But I grabbed a few after…much of the food is gone but you get the gist.

Smoked Salmon/Capers/Cream Cheese/Red Onion/Mini Whole Wheat Bagels.

This is an easy one.  No cooking involved and you can present it as nice and you want! 

One of my friends brought this zucchini bread…and now I need the recipe!  It was amazing!!

So moist and it created this awesome crust around the edges.

Bacon, fresh pineapple, a coffee cake brought by another friend

My favorite brunch dish to make for a group…French Toast Strata!

A delicious frittata…

• This one started with butter in the skillet, then lots of thinly sliced onions…caramelize.
• Once mostly caramelized, add in chopped zucchini.  Sauté for a couple more minutes.
• Then add eggs (think I used 6 eggs, beaten + some milk)
•   Add in chopped fresh thyme.  Then top with LOTS of goat cheese.
• Broil for a few minutes (be sure to use an oven safe skillet!  I love using cast iron), until set and just starting to brown.

More fruit!

Baskets also useful for condiments (salt, pepper, maple syrup) and cream and sugar for coffee.  

I like to use some of my real creamers/pitchers for cream and maple syrup.  It’s not much more effort and looks so nice!

Brunch was  a success.  Caught up with friends, and then we all still had the rest of the day to get our Sunday-type errands done :)

I heart breakfast food.

Veggie + Goat Cheese + Chive Frittata

I had some really fantastic breakfasts this weekend! 

Funny, I went out to breakfast a few weeks ago when I was up in Portsmouth for the weekend for my friend’s birthday and I realized it was the first time I had been out to breakfast in a long time!!  I love going out for brunch/breakfast, but I’ve realized that making breakfast at home is my FAVORITE meal to cook on the weekends!

Our house gets nice and sunny, and I love sitting at our table with a fresh cappuccino and whatever breakfast dish we decide to cook up. 

Not to mention I can do this all while still in my PJ’s :)

Saturday morning, I was craving sweet! 

This is easily the 3rd or 4th time I’ve made these Almond-Coconut pancakes since I first came up with the recipe!

My tweaks this weekend were to add 2T of Oat Flour and increased the almond milk to 1/2 cup.  Of course the addition of the flour makes these not Paleo anymore, but that’s an easy thing to leave out.  Delicious both ways.  The flour made them just slightly softer. 

This weekend I enjoyed my pancakes with a few chocolate chips, some real maple syrup, and split a banana with Brian.

Sunday morning, I had no idea what I wanted.

Sweet?  Savory?  Eggs? 

Then I remembered that I wanted to make some sort of baked frittata or other egg dish I could pack up as leftovers to have for breakfast at work some days this week!

Frittatas are so simple and so delicious, plus the flavor combinations are endless!

Ever since I saw the cookbook Plenty on Megan’s blog, I knew I had to own it, and I bought it a couple weeks ago.  In it, there is a recipe for a Smoky Frittata made with cauliflower and smoked mozzarella.  It sounds so flavorful and the picture looks like cheese heaven. 

This recipe was my inspiration for the frittata I made this morning.  I used vegetables and cheeses I just happened to have on hand.  I also used some Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese to add some creaminess to the egg mixture. 

Cauliflower for breakfast.

 

Vegetable + Chive + Goat Cheese: Frittata

• 1T olive oil
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 cup baby spinach (about 2 big handfuls)
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2T part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/tsp paprika
• salt & black pepper
• 2T finely chopped fresh chives
• 2oz goat cheese, crumbled (or more if you want)
• a sharp cheese to grate on top (I used Gouda Parrano)
• 3-4 cherry tomatoes, seeds removed, sliced (optional but delicious)

Pre-heat oven to 375

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites.  Then whisk in the Greek yogurt, ricotta, and mustard until all combined.  Add paprika, salt & pepper, and chopped chives.  Stir to combine and set aside.

In a cast iron or other oven proof skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

Add cauliflower and zucchini and sauté for 3-5 minutes until vegetables are tender (mine even got slightly browned in my pan which is good too).  Add the fresh spinach leaves and sauté for about 2 more minutes or until spinach is wilted down. 

Move around veggies in the pan so they are evenly distributed in the pan.  Pour in egg mixture, don’t stir.  Sprinkle the goat cheese around, place the sliced tomatoes on top, and grate as much of your sharp cheese as you want right on top.

Remove from stove and place in the oven.  Bake for 5 minutes, then turn oven onto broil and broil for 4-5 minutes until the frittata is set and the top is just getting slightly browned on the edges. 

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving!

Next time I’m going to add even more tomatoes, the bites I had with tomato were my favorite…well except for the big melty chunks of goat cheese.   

I enjoyed a big slice with an iced latte (topped with a little whipped cream), and 1 of my leftover almond-coconut pancakes.

Having whipped cream in the fridge is dangerous…mmm.

Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow!

So for those who pack their breakfasts for work…what do you bring when you’re craving something savory/salty??  Sometimes I just don’t want oatmeal, or yogurt…and those are the mornings I end up buying breakfast sandwiches.  But, of course, that’s something I don’t want to do too often. 

Sometimes I’ll even cook an egg in the microwave and add that to ham and cheese on toast.  It works. 

Brunch and Babies

My friend’s babies…sorry to disappoint any of my family reading ;)

I love brunch and breakfast foods.  I also love entertaining friends with delicious food!  However, other than Thanksgiving and our summer BBQ, I really don’t have people over as much as I’d like.

So, I invited some of my good friends over for a brunch! 

If you’re not used to entertaining, I’d say a brunch is a good way to start.  Most dishes are simple to prepare and there are lots of options that you can cook a head of time :)  Breakfast foods also tend to be cheaper too! 

I was even able to fit in a much needed manicure/pedicure…

(that’s Essie’s Glamour Purse)

AND a quick apple picking excursion, the day before the brunch!

It was the last weekend in September and I HAD to go apple picking!  It’s my favorite fall activity EVER.

Unfortunately the usual cool sunny fall weekends of previous year’s apple pickings, was replaced with a hot HUMID post-rain day!

At least the crowds weren’t bad.  But the humid stagnant air + being out amongst nature = mosquito fest 2011. 

Another bad equation to factor in:
Post-pedicure lotioned legs + mosquitoes = mosquito MAGNET! 

It was bad, I instantly got about 6 bites within 15 min.  So we hurried up.  Brian would fetch the apples and I’d stand with the bag constantly slapping those little bastards off my legs!

I felt much better when we were back in the car with AC, 1/2 bushel of apples, 1/2 dozen HOT cider donuts, 1 caramel apple, and a burger for Brian.  Oh and the extra strength Benadryl cream I was slathering on my calves ;)

Back to Brunch.

The Menu:

Mimosa’s (brought by a guest)
Other juices (guest)
Coffee and Espresso drinks (me)

Pumpkin bread and banana bread (guest)
Mini lemon poppy seed muffins (guest)

Baked blueberry French toast (me)
Egg Bake with wild mushrooms, shallots, thyme, goat cheese, and gruyere (me)
Tomato Basil frittata (me)
Roasted red and sweet potatoes with onion and rosemary (me)

Have guests bring drinks and apps.  In this case, I had some friends bring muffins/quick breads that people could snack on while they waited.

French toast casseroles like this usually have to be made a day in advance anyways so they can sit and absorb the liquid.  These are always a crowd pleaser

Serve with maple syrup on the side.

Egg bakes/baked frittatas or quiches can also be baked ahead of time and just warmed up before serving.

I baked this on earlier in the morning.

  Unfortunately potatoes can’t be cut too far ahead of time, so leave this until the morning of.

I bought some flowers, and my friend also brought a beautiful arrangement.

I also love using big bowls/vessels of seasonal fruits for decor (apple picking apples!)

I’ll be back with recipes.  In the meantime here are some of my friend’s adorable babies!

I couldn’t believe there were FOUR little ones at my house today!  Exciting and scary at the same time :)

First date:

So cute :)    

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  Once again, SO not ready to go back to work tomorrow…*sigh*

Speaking of brunch:  What’s you're favorite brunch food to either eat or make!?