How to cook four recipes at once and still enjoy weekend brunch!
Brunch. Millennials have come to be known for it, with weekend-morning lines stretching around the block from popular restaurants in cities big and small... But we challenge you to find us a single person who doesn’t love a late-morning feast!
What makes brunch so glorious? It’s undeniably luxurious. For brunch to be brunch, you have to slow down. It’s a break from slapping peanut butter on toast and eating in the car on the way to work. (Anyone else?) Brunch practically requires you to sleep in and not have plans until late in the day. Or maybe brunch means that you already accomplished an early-morning outing and you’re ready to rest and refuel! Brunch is perfect as a treat-yourself moment, a romantic morning, or a lively setting for gathering with friends. (Start pouring the mimosas!)
We are here to say that you deserve this. Yes, making your brunch rather than eating out may require waking up a hair earlier or working a little harder. Ultimately, though, you’ll save money and you can do it all without changing out of your pajamas! Plus, there’s no wait for a table in your kitchen… (We hope?) We believe that food is the ultimate love language and if you’ve never made brunch for your loved ones, now is the time to try!
For our brunch series, we’ve compiled what we think is a perfect classic vegan brunch-from-home feast. We’ve been making some variation of this meal for years. Tofu scramble, breakfast potatoes, side salad, and vegan sausage—All incredibly simple, but when they cozy up together on your plate they create a deeply satisfying plate with a dynamic balance of flavors and textures. Savory and sweet. Bright and rich. We love the feeling of making everything on the plate ourselves, but if you’re crunched for time, there is no shame in using store-bought breakfast sausage or cutting some corners. The important thing is that you enjoy what you are eating and share a meal with others when you can!
We’re serious about our love for brunch, so stay tuned for more delectable dishes to start your weekends with!
Tips & Info
Write out your process before you start! For me, it always helps to map out the steps of a big meal before I start cooking. What do I need to prep? What takes the longest? What has long periods of cooking when I can accomplish other steps? Making bullet points and crossing off steps as you go can help to feel organized and at ease when preparing multiple dishes at once. Use this post as a guide!
Keep a kitchen towel with you. It’s nice to be able to quickly clean off your hands, grab pan handles, and wipe up small messes without fumbling around the kitchen for a towel or pot holder.
Gather all your ingredients, cookware, and serveware in groups. It is much easier to feel organized while cooking if you’re not searching through the refrigerator or pantry while things on the stove need your attention. Gather salad ingredients in/around a salad bowl, potato ingredients on your sheet pan, etc. This is especially helpful when cooking in the morning while waiting for your first sips of coffee to take effect.
Make brunch with ease and confidence
Power Plant | David Griffin-Luna | Feb 15th, 2020
Timing: Around one hour—give yourself more time if you’re getting the hang of juggling multiple dishes at once
Feeds: 4
(We don’t know how hungry you are!)
Recipes
Equipment:
Timing
Here’s a rundown of how I juggle this week’s recipes to make a killer brunch. Since timing varies for each recipe, it’s a bit hard to estimate the exact timing. (Also, I developed the recipes, so I might be a little quicker than average when preparing them for the umpteenth time.) That said, I usually give myself about an hour to make brunch, and it usually works out just about right. Don’t beat yourself up if it takes a little longer, brunch is a relaxed thing. Plus: You’re the cook, you’re supposed to snack-as-you-go.1) First thing’s first: Start your coffee or tea and pour a big glass of water (throw a lemon wedge in there, this is about luxury). Having something to sip on makes cooking nicer, building in little breathers. Morning hydration is no joke, especially when you’re working hard in the kitchen. While coffee brews or tea steeps, gather your materials and take any notes you need to take. Spread out in your kitchen and set yourself up to feel organized now!
2) Your first dish to tackle will be roasted potatoes. These have the longest cook time, including long periods cooking undisturbed in the oven allowing you time to prepare other recipes. They also do well keeping warm in the oven after it’s turned off if needed. Wash, cut, and dress the potatoes while the oven preheats. While you’re at it? Start boiling the potatoes for the sausage at this point, too. Once potatoes are on to cooking...
3) Work on breakfast sausage. Since you’ve already started boiling the potatoes, you’re a step ahead! Combine everything into a big mixing bowl and mix well. Let it sit while the spuds finish boiling. Once those are done, mash them and mix them in. Set the dough aside until you’re ready to cook the patties (if you want to pre-form patties, do that now!)
4) At this point your roasted potatoes might need a stir. Keep an eye on them—After their first stir (15ish mins) is when I prefer to turn my attention to salad. I start with greens in the bowl (wash them if they need it, please!) then prep the other ingredients. If I’m roasting my own seeds, they go in the oven now with the potatoes for just a few minutes (I like to use the cast-iron skillet I’ll using for tofu later to save dishes). Slice shallots, jalapeños, and any other veggies you are including and add them to your salad bowl. Measure oil and prep your lemon, but don’t dress the salad until right before you serve it to avoid wilting! Alternately, even easier: Assemble single portions of salad on each plate before serving, drizzle with olive oil, and serve with a lemon wedge like in our picture.
5) Don’t worry about the potatoes: I know it’s weird to leave them in there without stirring more than a few times but I promise they’re okay. You want crispy, right? At some point during the next step, they’ll be done. When they are, give them a good stir, kill the heat on the oven, and pop them back in to keep warm. (keep an eye to make sure they’re not cooking too much as your oven cools off - remove them if necessary).
6) Get your game face on. Refill your water glass. It’s time to cook sausage patties. I recommend having a spare plate or sheet pan ready with tin foil or a clean tea towel to keep finished patties warm while the rest cook. Tend to the heat as you go, making sure they have a chance to cook through before getting too dark on the outside. I make 4 patties at a time in a 12” cast iron skillet, meaning there are 2 batches if I’m cooking all the dough. Whenever you begin your final batch of patties is the perfect time to start tofu scramble. It’s also a good time to make toast, if that’s your thing. We’re not going to tell you how to do that, we trust you to handle it.
7) Tofu scramble comes together pretty quickly. Multitasking on the stove can be a bit challenging—Your primary focus is to not burn the sausage because tofu is much more forgiving. Tofu is a ready-to-eat product in and of itself, so the “doneness” you’re looking for here is primarily textural. You want to strive for a moist, almost custardy texture that resembles a perfectly-cooked scrambled egg. This varies on the brand of tofu, how much of its water made it into the pan, and how hot your stove is. Follow our recipe, follow your instincts, and you’ll be in good shape.
8)When it’s all done, you plate it! I usually start with potatoes (gotta make sure they have enough plate real estate), then nestle scramble right next to them. Salad goes on the other side of the potatoes and sausage further separates the salad from the scramble (look... I’m not trying to get tofu crumbles in my spring mix, but no judgment if that’s your thing). Hot sauce and ketchup are both musts in our house! Also: A professional-level brunch table needs like three beverages per person (cocktail/juice, coffee/tea, water) so make sure you plan ahead for that.
Enjoy your home-cooked brunch. Whether you’ve cut each recipe down ¾ to treat yourself to a lazy morning feast, you’re entertaining family or friends, or you’re sharing it with a sweetie—You’re bound to have a good day if it starts like this.
—David