vegan eggs benedict // smokey portabella bacon

I am absolutely in love with breakfast - it is the one meal I look forward to everyday. Many of my breakfast "go to's"  include farina, tofu scramble, pancakes, tofu egg sammies, english muffin with peanut butter + breakfast wraps.

Some of my best recipe ideas come to be just before falling asleep, for this reason I always keep a pad + pen at my bedside table. I was actually thinking about my sister and how she and her other half love brunch - one of her favorite brunch dishes is a vegetarian bene. Hey, I've never made a vegan bene before, I need to get on that! Then I start to visualize the flavors and composition of the dish, furiously writing down my thoughts in a half awake // half asleep state (all with a confused Justin by my side).

One of my intentions for 2015, as you may have read in this post - incorporate more whole, minimally processed foods into my day to day. It is easy to get sucked into the convenience of processed vegan items- truth is I became lazy and it is just as easy to fry up some tempeh or portabella bacon as it is to open the package and pan fry...well a little more effort, but it is worth it.

Firm tofu sprinkled with an eggy spice blend acts as your "egg". I make a batch of the blend to have on hand and add it to my tofu scrambles, tofu egg salad or tofu egg slices. Simply combine in a spice jar 1/2 nutritional yeast, 1/4 sulfur salt + 1/4 turmeric and shake to mix.

You can either use tofu rectangles or if you are feeling fancy you can cut circles out of tofu to fit your english muffin (keep the bits for scrambles or ricotta).

I'm gonna let you in on a secret- this portabella bacon smells so amazing + tastes out of this world!

 Sweet + salty goodness, compassionate "bacon". Waaaay better than the pork variety and kinder too.

I could eat it for days! 

Not a fan of mushrooms? You can easily use the same seasonings with tempeh, you may need to add a little water and increase the cooking time a smidge.

Creamy and super easy to make, you are going to want to put this hollandaise on everything! Raw sunflower seeds + nooch are the star ingredients. The recipe makes enough for 4 egg bene's but if you are making breakfast for 1 it will keep up to a week.

(The color is a little off in the above picture, I think it is pulling the blue from the plate)

You can serve your bene straight up with freshly cracked pepper or take it up a notch by adding a little hot sauce, I am in total love with Cholula Chipotle!

Are you a breakfast // brunch person- what is your favorite way to spend a lazy weekend morning?

Me, eating a hearty breakfast around 10 or 11am, with a mug of tea and crossword in hand is heaven!

Vegan Eggs Benedict // Smokey Portabella Bacon

makes 1 Benedict (2 halves)  +  hollandaise for 4

you will need:

for the smokey portabella bacon:

2 small portabella cap // 1 large + sliced

Pinch apple wood smoked salt ( or sea salt)

drizzle olive oil

liquid smoke 1/8 tsp

Vegan Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp

maple syrup 1/2 tsp

for the Eggs Benedict:

1 English muffin - toasted

Dab vegan butter

Tofu eggy mix

2 firm tofu rounds // slices  (about 1/2" thick)

1/8 Himalayan Sulfur Salt per slice

1/8 tsp Turmeric per slice

1/4 tsp Nutritional Yeast per slice

handful baby spinach

for the hollandaise:

1\2 cup  raw sunflower seeds

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp turmeric

2/3 cup boiling water

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Drizzle sweetener {maple syrup // agave}

hot sauce // freshly cracked pepper

assembly:

to make the bacon:

Heat a small pan over medium heat - add all ingredients to pan and cook for 5 or so minutes, stirring + turning as needed. Remove from pan and set aside. 

(you will want the portabellas to still maintain some plumpness/moisture)

to make the egg:

Wipe out the pan you used to cook the bacon. Over medium heat, add a dab of vegan butter. Add seasoned tofu rounds and cook until golden, flip and cook the other side in the same manner.

to make the hollandaise:

While the tofu is cooking in the pan  make the hollandaise.

Place sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast + turmeric in food processor or high powered blender. Blend until sunflowers begin to turn into a powder. With the blender // food processor running add the boiling water , lemon juice + sweetener, blend until very smooth.

Assemble the Benedict by layering baby spinach on top of each toasted english muffin half, a slic of tofu egg, portabella bacon and finishing off with hollandaise + freshly cracked pepper, hot sauce or both!

Enjoy!