As I introduce today’s recipe, I think it’s important that I give credit where credit is due and that’s to my boyfriend Andrew. This recipe would not have been born without his sweet tooth and his constant flow of dessert ideas he wants me to try. The cycle of recipe development in our house is that I have a master list of ideas that strike me usually in the car, and I’ll ask for Andrew’s input and he’ll throw out some kind of dessert he wants me to try instead. Usually I resist merely to avoid having sweets in my house, but he won out on this one and as a consequence of that we all win because these Easy Old Fashion Doughnuts are delicious!

I had actually been curious about making my own doughnuts for a while but Andrew’s suggestion was the final push I needed. As you all know, I like taking things that people spend money on getting out, and seeing if I can recreate them at home. Then there’s the important questions which are (1) are they better? (2) are they cheaper to make than to buy; and (3) is it worth it?

With this recipe I think the answer has to be yes to all three! Unlike making your own bagels which are delicious but time consuming, making your own doughnuts really doesn’t take much time and is super easy! There’s no proofing or resting of the dough required, you just make it, shape them, and fry them, I swear if it didn’t end up being so easy, I wouldn’t be sharing the recipe.

When I made these for the house, we saved them and ate them as snacks all week, but they’re so good fresh so I highly recommend making them if you’re having a brunch party or need something to bring to the office and want to impress people with your cooking skills!

Now, most recipes online will tell you to get a doughnut cutter for this recipe, and that would certainly make it easier, but I got very creative and used a pint glass to cut the bigger piece and a wine bottle opening to cut out the middle hole and it worked like a charm. That being said, if you try this recipe and are like OMG I’m making doughnuts all the time now, investing in the special cutter might be for the best.

These doughnuts are relatively simple so I’ve already promised myself to attempt more challenging ones in the future, stay tuned!

Lots of Love,

Jackie

Easy Old Fashioned Doughnuts

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Put away those 7-11 powdered doughnuts, you can now make your very own easy and delicious Old Fashion Doughnuts. A great breakfast treat for your Easter brunches.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Desserts, Breakfast

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Serves: 8-12 doughnuts

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cake Flour
• ½ cup all purpose flour, plus more if necessary
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ¾ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup cane sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 egg yolks
• ⅔ cup greek yogurt
• 2-3 cups of vegetable oil, enough for frying
• powdered sugar for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, sea salt, nutmeg and cinnamon until combined.
   
   
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or other large bowl, whip the sugar and butter together until mixed. Add in the egg yolks and continue whisking. Finally add in the Greek yogurt and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth.
   
   
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold until it forms a dough. Empty the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. If the dough is too sticky to handle, continue adding flour about ¼ cup at a time until it forms a firm, slightly sticky dough. I think by the end I likely added another ½ cup of flour in. For this step, I prefer to use all purpose flour because adding more cake flour makes the dough too sweet.
   
   
4. Using a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you're me) roll out the dough into a square. It should still be about an inch thick. Cut the doughnuts out using a doughnut cutter, or, if you don't have one, you can use a pint glass to cut the big circle and the opening of a wine or other similar bottle to cut out the middle. Set the cut doughnuts aside to prepare for frying. Continue kneading the leftover dough back into itself and cutting out doughnuts until you have no dough left. You can choose to work the middle circles back in, or you can set them aside as well and fry as doughnut holes. You should have 8-12 doughnuts by the end.
   
   
5. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, you'll know it's ready if flour sizzles in it. You can also test it with one doughnut hole and see if it floats when dropped in.
   
   
6. Fry the doughnuts no more than two at a time for about 1 minute on each side until they turn a golden brown color. Remove the doughnuts from the oil and place onto a drying rack. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the doughnuts and you're done!

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I think we all know what holiday is fast approaching and it’s a big one in Chicago … St. Patrick’s Day! If you’ve never been to St. Patty’s day in Chicago, you should come one year but be prepared to see some straight up debauchery. St. Patrick’s Day the year Andrew and I started dating, might’ve been when I first realized I loved Andrew. That sounds legit insane because we had only been dating for like 2 months, but it was a beautiful day and we successfully drank Jameson and Ginger Ale outside for about 12 hours while having the most fun together. It was an amazing day. With all its craziness I still have a soft spot for St. Patty’s day, and this year I’m celebrating on the blog with several special recipes and today’s recipe is this incredible Semi-Traditional Irish Breakfast.

When I was planning my St. Patty’s Day post, I had been doing research for a few days on what Irish people typically eat (other than corned beef and cabbage obviously). I was trying to find a traditional Irish recipe that I could put my own spin on, I am only 1/8 Irish after all. I learned a couple things through this research. The first is that all Irish food sounds like an amazing mess of the most perfect hangover cure you’ve ever heard of.  These people may not be the French when it comes to cuisine, but they are experts at filling up a belly full of beer. The second thing is that Irish food is extremely meat centered and meat heavy in a way that is sometimes difficult to imitate. That being said, I think I nailed this one.

So, let’s break this down, first I put a slight spin on traditional potato pancakes by making them not only with leftover mashed potatoes, but more specifically with leftover colcannon, another Irish dish. Colcannon is literally mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage and bacon so trust me, it’s one of the best things you’ll ever eat. I made mine with roasted cabbage and leeks to give it that extra flavor and coconut bacon because it’s the best for bacon bits. Did I mention I also used a whole head of roasted garlic in the mashed potatoes? YUM!

Using the colcannon for the potato pancakes makes them heartier and more flavorful, plus you’ll have leftovers of the colcannon you can either make into more pancakes or literally just eat over your sink like an animal.

The other part of Irish breakfast is of course meat, specifically, bacon and sausage. I elected to use store bought vegan breakfast sausage but make my own bacon. This was my first time making eggplant bacon and it’s tasty AF. I have to tell you I still prefer tempeh bacon because it’s meatier, but eggplant provides that thin crunchiness and really absorbs the marinade well.

Finally, this ridiculous plate of deliciousness is finished with fried eggs, and broiled and/or grilled tomatoes. Trust me, don’t skip on the grilled tomatoes, they’re the perfect accompaniment to this dish. You’ll literally want to just pile a fork high with all this shit and take one gigantic bite!

Lots of Love,

Jackie

Semi-Traditional Irish Breakfast

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Hearty and flavorful potato pancakes served with smoky eggplant bacon, vegan breakfast sausage, fried eggs and a broiled tomato, cure your St. Patrick's Day hangover like a trust Irishman.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Irish, Vegetarian

Serves: 4 breakfasts

Ingredients

• Potato Pancakes
• 4 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 head garlic, roasted (cut the top off the garlic, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, bake wrapped in foil at 400 degrees for 30 minutes)
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup almond milk
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 leek, washed and chopped
• ½ head cabbage, sliced into strips
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp pepper
• ⅓ cupcoconut bacon
• 1 egg
• ½ cup flour
• 2 more tbsp butter (for frying, may need more)
  
  
• Eggplant Bacon
• non-stick spray
• 1 large eggplant, sliced per directions
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt
  
  
• The Rest
• 4 tomatoes (1 per breakfast plate)
• 8 fried eggs (two per breakfast plate)
• 4 vegan sausages (1 per breakfast plate)
• Sour cream for topping potatoes

Directions

1. Start by making the ingredients for the potato pancakes. Now, if we were in Ireland, you would have already made Colcannon the night before and you'd be using those leftovers for the pancakes. Do as you will, I can tell you it's worth it to make the colcannon ahead both for ease and the deliciousness of eating it by itself. Boil your potatoes for the mashed potatoes until fork tender.
   
   
2. While the potatoes are cooking, preheat your over to 400 degrees. Place the sliced leeks and cabbage on a baking sheet and toss in the olive oil and 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. Bake the leeks and cabbage for 15 minutes on the top rack until they start to brown. Bake the coconut baconduring this time. You will also want to bake the roasted garlic as well. I placed it in with the cabbage, then swapped the cabbage out for the coconut bacon, leaving the garlic in. By the time they're both done, the garlic will be just about done as well.
   
   
3. After the potatoes are tender, remove from the water and transfer to a large bowl or stand mixer. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's shell and transfer to the bowl with the potatoes. Add in the sour cream, almond milk, butter, and the remaining tsp of salt. Mix with the stand mixer, a hand mixed, or a potato smashed and spatula until smooth and the garlic has been mixed evenly.
   
   
4. When the potatoes are finished and fully prepared, add in the cabbage and bacon and stir with a spatula until fully incorporated. Separate two cups of the mashed potato mixture into a separate bowl to make the pancakes an enjoy anything you have left alone! Trust me, it's delicious.
   
   
5. Prepare the eggplant bacon by spraying a wire rack with non-stick spray and placing it on a baking sheet. Cut the ends off the eggplant and slice it longways into thin pieces, about ¼ inch. Place the pieces onto a cutting board, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes is up, wipe the excess moisture off the eggplant and place on the wire rack.
   
   
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients for the eggplant bacon until combined. Then brush the top side of the eggplant with the marinade. Bake for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven then flip and brush the other side with marinade and bake for an additional 15 minutes. You can use any other veggie bacon for this part, but please keep in mind if you're using eggplant bacon, only actually bake what you're going to eat because it doesn't reheat well, save the rest of the sliced eggplant and save the marinade.
   
   
7. To make the potato pancakes, take 2 cups of the mashed potato/cabbage mixture into a large bowl and add the flour and egg. Mix until it thickens up, it should be a slightly thicker texture than pancake mix and you should be able to scoop it. Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet. Scooping about 2 tablespoons at a time, scoop the potato mixture into the skillet and flatten slightly with a spatula. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side per pancake until they are golden brown on each side.
   
   
8. Finish up preparing your total Irish breakfast by frying or otherwise preparing your eggs and frying your breakfast sausage if using. If you're broiling the tomatoes, simply cut them in half, place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, broil for 3-5 minutes cut side up until they start to brown on the edges.
   
   
9. Assemble a plate with two eggs, one tomato, one sausage, strips of bacon, and two potato pancakes. Enjoy with an early morning beer, bloody or Irish coffee!

Notes

Timing: The prep time here includes the time you need to roast the garlic and make the mashed potatoes. You can make the "colcannon" entirely ahead of time and just make sure you have 2 cups of it for when you go to make the breakfast.



Vegan: If you're looking to make this vegan, you'll have to eliminate the eggs altogether unless you have a great substitute, I have not been able to find one I think that isn't a huge pain. Second, substitute the butter in every recipe for vegan butter. For the mashed potatoes I would recommend buying a vegan sour cream or a vegan cream cheese rather than just cutting it out entirely. I have tried to make these without adding in one of the two and they just do not come out like mashed potatoes. I will say, Kite Hill almond cream cheese works great in them!

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This recipe is part of a backlog of recipes I plan on unleashing over the course of the next month or so, basically the holidays knocked me on my ass along with my regular job, and wedding planning (I recently got engaged! Ay-Yo) and it’s lead to me being excruciatingly behind on my recipes. I have had time to cook but not a whole lot of time to write up recipes and present them to the people!

These cookies, despite being originally made for the blog, have become kind of a staple in our house. They started as just a healthy-ish chocolate chip cookie, and evolved through testing into more of a trail mix vibe with rich, flavorful peanut butter, and a variety of fillings.

I find one of the biggest food dilemmas I have on a weekly basis is figuring out snacks. I don’t know about anyone else, but I legit can’t make it through the day without snacks, I mean I work a 10 hour day so honestly I could probably be eating multiple meals. Andrew and I often default to hard boiled eggs in this regard, but every once and a while I come up with something amazing and perfect for that mid morning time when it’s still too early to be socially appropriate to eat lunch. These cookies are IT!

Seriously, these cookies are all of the things, they are sweet, spiced and salty and loaded with your personal favorite trail mix fixings! Our personal favorites here are dark chocolate chips, walnuts and pumpkin seeds but seriously, it’s yours to play with! They’re just the right amount of filling and are so loaded with fiber and healthy fats that they actual keep you kind of full!

Toss those power bars in the trash, you know you never really liked them anyway. It’s time to switch to cookies for second breakfast, thank me later

Love,

Jackie

Loaded Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

These breakfast cookies are officially coffee's new best friend! Sweet, salty and loaded with all of your personal favorite trail mix fixings.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Dessert, Breakfast, Snacks

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free

Serves: 12 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup brown rice flour
• ½ cup almond flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbs ground flax seed
• 5 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup of a mix of your choice of filling:
• chocolate chips, coconut flakes, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
   
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown rice flour, almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and baking soda and toss until combined.
   
   
3. Add the maple syrup, peanut butter, flax seed, melted coconut oil and vanilla to a food processor and blend on high until smooth.
   
   
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and mix with a spoon until its fully incorporated and starts to form a dough. You should be able to pick it up and roll it into a ball with your fingers. Add in any toppings that you choose but be sure not to put too much otherwise the cookies won't stay together. Scoop the cookies out 2 tbsp at a time and flatten into large cookies on the baking sheet. You should end up with 10-12 cookies.
   
   
5. Bake for 15 minutes and test to see if they're done. To test it stick a toothpick in the middle of the cookies and see if it comes out clean. Place them on a cooling rack and let cool. These cookies can keep in the fridge all week.

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I’m going to be real honest with you guys, I really love this recipe but I kind of hate myself for doing it. This recipe arose when I (unsuccessfully) was attempting to do Whole 30 again for the month of January. It’s one of those big time Pinterest, Keto crazed trends where people try to act like things like sweet potatoes can replace bread. Out of spite I tried it, and let me be honest, this does not replace actual avocado toast in any way, but as a stand alone snack, or incredibly easy dinner, this is simple, fresh and delicious!

I understand as a person that is constantly telling you you won’t miss the meat in my dishes it’s a little hypocritical for me to hate on people trying to replace bread with vegetables, but what can I say, I love bread! (have you guys seen the clip of Oprah yelling about how much she loves bread? That’s me 100%).

Okay so to shift the attention back to the dish at hand, sweet potatoes are seriously natures most versatile vegetable. I truly believe they go great with anything but one of their best match ups by far is avocado. The mix of the hot sweet potato with the cold, spicy guacamole in this recipe is truly magical. And the sliced mangoes are literally and figuratively the cherry on top.

You might be thinking, how is this different from just baking a potato and putting guac in it, well I’ll tell you, it’s easier to eat and easier to heat up so it will last you! If you wanted to do this for breakfast, you can bake a bunch of the sweet potato slices in advance and then reheat them in the morning and boom, 5 minute breakfast. In all seriousness though, I prefer this dish as a very easy dinner. It only takes about 30 minutes and most of that is passive time with the potatoes are baking, plus about 5 minutes to figure out how the F to slice a mango (look on Youtube, I’m not kidding).

You can use this as a side, you can present it as an appetizer for a party, or you can eat it all yourself. It’s easy, delicious and honestly beautiful I mean look at those colors! It’s also clearly healthy though I’d prefer not to focus on that part because I’m here to get you to love veggies, not to get you to hate yourself for not being healthy, you have all of Instagram to help you with that.

Love,

Jackie

Sweet Potato Toast with Simple Guacamole

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Simple, pretty, delicious and about the most millennial thing you could find, these Sweet Potato Toasts with Guacamole are the perfect versatile snack or meal for busy week.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Dinner, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free

Serves: 10-16 toasts

Ingredients

• 4 Sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• a pinch salt and pepper
• 2 avocados
• ½ red onion, finely diced
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1-2 jalapenos, diced with seeds (choose your spice level here)
• cilantro (optional)
• 3 mangoes - sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut both ends off the sweet potatoes and place cut side down on the cutting board. Then sliced vertically into ½ inch thick pieces of "toast".
   
   
2. Place the pieces of sweet potato on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until they start to soften. You want them to be cooked but not so soft that they're mushy.
   
   
3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, make the guacamole. Place the avocados into a medium bowl and smash them with a fork until smooth with a few chunks mixed in. Add in the red onion, tomato, lime juice, salt, garlic powder, jalapenos and cilantro if you're using it.
   
   
4. When the sweet potatoes are cooked, removed from the oven, top with the guacamole and sliced mango. To reheat these you can heat them in a pan with olive oil, fry and each side for about 5 minutes. You can also top them with fried or poached eggs for a breakfast.

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If you know me at all, or if you have been following this blog, you know I am the #1 fan of weekend breakfasts. I love brunch more than any other meal and there’s nothing better than making a restaurant level brunch from the comfort of my own home. No lines, no cold weather, just me, my man, my dog, and some delicious food. While I feel like a lot of my breakfast/brunch recipes while totally worth it, they are also a little extensive which is not always what you want on a Sunday morning. Not this recipe, these Spicy Tomato Poached eggs are the key to creating your own all star brunch in record time.

This recipe is based on one of my favorite breakfasts my mom used to make, one we just called tomato eggs. Hers were even simpler than this and included only tomatoes and pickled Hungarian Hot Peppers. I modified this recipe because I legit cannot find those hot peppers anywhere in Chicago, I think my mom finds them at a specialty market or something. Either way, don’t fear because this recipe is just as good and, dare I say, even a little spicier.

This batch is enough to feed two people but you can very easily double, even triple the recipe if you have a big enough pan and the ambition to make it work. The one warning I would say is make what you need because leftovers are really tricky with this recipe, you can’t reheat poached eggs well because the yolk might get overcooked, and we all know the yolk is the most magical part of poached eggs.

This recipe is so quick and easy, we’ve even been able to squeeze it in on weekdays for breakfast and having nearly anything but smoothies for breakfast in our house is a damn impressive feat. I think my favorite thing about this one though is that it’s extremely comforting, which is something we all need more of as the weather gets colder. Also, apologizing in advance but there’s no vegan substitute here, sorry guys but poached eggs are just too damn good to pass up.

Lots of Love,

Jackie

Spicy Tomato Poached Eggs

 

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Prep time

3 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

18 mins

 

Treat your self this weekend with soft poached eggs, cooked in a bold, spicy tomato sauce sand served with crusty french bread.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter or ghee
• ½ white onion, sauteed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeno, diced
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4 eggs
• French Bread (for serving)

Directions

1. Heat the butter or ghee in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and jalapenos and saute for 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
   
   
2. Add in the diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, pepper and salt and cook for 5-8 more minutes until the tomatoes are broken down and form a broth.
   
   
3. When the tomatoes are broken down and the sauce is simmering, crack the four eggs into the simmering sauce, separating each by about an inch. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the eggs cook over the top. Serve with crusty bread.

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So the holidays are over (*takes deep breath*), which is always a little bittersweet because while I love spending time with family, eating good food and pounding wine, after two weeks straight of it, your body will start to reject you. I swear I think it took me a full two more weeks to start to feel like a normal human again. Assuming that this struggle is not just related to me, I figured I’d share me and Andrew’s go to smoothie recipe to help everyone reset after the holidays.

So we actually have this for breakfast every morning and have for about 3 straight years now but don’t get too impressed, it’s one of the few things Andrew and I do for our own health on a consistent basis. That being said, it is a really good start to the day and all in one swoop knocks out a bunch of servings of fruits and veggies and has the added bonus of healthy fat from the flaxseed. I used to put hemp seeds in there as well but I’ve been rather short on funds lately and trying to cut back to $12.00 packs of seeds.

There’s another plus side for you guys that comes with the fact that I’ve been doing this for 3 years, this recipe has been rather perfected to taste really really good as well. The apples and pineapple add a sweetness without being overwhelming and the pineapples add a creaminess. The ginger and cayenne give it a kick and the lemon adds a freshness. Don’t sleep on the ice either, it’s best when it’s really cold.

So let’s get back to talking about the holidays for a bit because I always get a little bit sad after the holidays. I think it’s because my seasonal depression just hits full force after the holidays are over, in my humble opinion they just come too early in the year and then you’re just left with 3 more months of snow and cold and darkness. This year has been particularly difficult for me because I had to work remote through the holidays which was stressful.

Basically though, I didn’t get any true relaxation over the holidays almost at all.  So I wanted to talk about  three things that help me reset without actual time off when I start to feel like my life is spinning.

The first is clean my house, it might seem counter intuitive to clean up to help you relax, but there’s seriously nothing that helps me feel back to normal like having my laundry done, clean sheets and a floor I can actually see. I doesn’t have to be perfect either, I’m not saying go through and de-clutter. I just do the dishes, clean the counters, do the laundry AND put it away, that last step is the most important in my personal life.

Second is, I like to make a list on Friday before I leave the office of everything I have to do the following week and put stars next to what’s most important. Then I leave it at the office, get in my car and blast rap music all the way home. Knowing that I did a full evaluation of the week ahead helps me literally leave all that shit at the office until Monday.

Third, I set a minimum of 4 hours aside on Sunday to do something that I personally love. For me, at the end of Sunday I like to shower, meditate for about 15 minutes, make a drink and watch about 2-3 hours of good tv. Not office or always sunny re-runs like I do all week, usually something I haven’t seen before though admittedly I am currently rewatching Game of Thrones as we all should be, April 14th baby! This one could look different for you, maybe you read, maybe you drink tea, work out, or just go to bed mad early.

I’m not an expert on life advice, I spend most my time stumbling through trying to figure out what works and after 30 years I still don’t have it. But I hope that this helps you even a little, and if it doesn’t , at least you have this rad smoothie recipe.

Lots of Love,

Jackie

The Best Reset Smoothie

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

7 mins

 

The perfect morning drink to get you back on track after the all out binge fest that is the holiday season. Loaded with healthy greens and the perfect amount of sweetness.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast, Smoothie

Cuisine: Vegan, Vegetarian

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 packed cup kale, washed and sliced
• 1 packed cup baby spinach
• ½ cup water
• 1 apple
• ½ cucumber, seeded
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and diced
• 2 tbps flax seed meal
• 1 cup frozen pineapple
• ½ lemon- juice
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 5 ice cubes

Directions

1. Add the kale and the spinach to the bottom of a high speed blender. Pour the water over the greens. Then add in the apples, cucumber, ginger, and flax seed meal.
   
   
2. Top with the frozen pineapple and ice cubs and then squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle the cayenne if using. Blend on high until smooth. You may need to run it a few times. If you have a mid-grade blender, blend the greens with the water first, then add in the remaining ingredients.

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So I was listening to a podcast recently, A Couple Cooks Small Bites if you want to look it up. And they had on a guest who gave what I thought was one of the most clever ideas for bringing to a party that I had ever heard, she brings the hosts of a dinner party breakfast for the next day! So instead of contributing wine or appetizers which they likely already have too much of, she gives them the opportunity to not have to think about their next morning.  

If you think that’s as clever as I did, or even if you’re not impressed by that but just want to have breakfast for yourself and your family, this recipe is great for you. I also have to give a shout out again to my main girl Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food on this one because without her I would not have ever attempted to make my own bagels. Plus my cream cheese recipe is based on hers but with a slight twist and it’s literal perfection.

This recipe would also be perfect to make a bagel bar set up and put out lots of vegetables and toppings, even lox if that’s you jam, I’m not telling you how to live your life. I personally like cucumbers and tomatoes on mine. I can tell you as well, these bagels are so fluffy and absolutely perfect for making egg sandwiches as well.

If you’re not gorging on these all in one day, I recommend slicing the bagels and then freezing the slices individually. They unthaw beautifully after a few round in the toaster. If you don’t freeze them they’ll stay fresh in a plastic bag for a few days but past about 2 they’ll start to harden and lose their amazing texture.

There’s one final thing here, and that’s to attempt this recipe, I highly recommend you have a stand mixer with a dough hook. It makes life SO MUCH easier. You can knead this dough by hand but it is much more difficult and takes longer and you run the risk of over kneading it. If you don’t have a stand mixer now, ask for one for Christmas and you’ll be golden. Seriously you won’t regret it.

Lots of Love,

Jackie

Everything Bagels with Vegan Green Goddess Cream Cheese

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

1 hour 25 mins

 

Big, dense New York style bagles topped with savory everything bagel seasoning and served with perfect vegan cream cheese loaded with garlic and herbs.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 8 bagels

Ingredients

• Bagels
• 4 C bread flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2¼ tsp quick rise yeast
• 1 tbsp veg oil
• 1½ C warm water
• 1 cup nondairy milk
• 1 tsp syrup
• cups water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ½ cup everything bagel seasoning *(see notes)
  
  
• Vegan Green Goddess Cream Cheese
• 1 14oz block extra firm Tofu
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh chives
• 2 tbsp fresh dill
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
  
  
• Other toppings *Optional*
• Cucumbers
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Dill
• Basil
• Red Onion

Directions

1. Make the cream cheese first so it has time to chill. Use a tea towel or fine mesh sieve to squeeze the water out of the tofu. Add the tofu to a high speed blender along with the remaining ingredients and blend on high until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
   
   
2. Start by getting your dough ready. Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. In a separate small bowl, add the yeast into a ½ cup of warm water with a small pinch of sugar. Make sure the water is warm enough, it should be around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the yeast sit in the water for a few minutes until it starts to bubble. It will be a very light bubble on top.
   
   
3. When the yeast start to bubble, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the water yeast mixture, the remaining water, and the vegetable oil to the middle. If you're using a mixer, you can use a dough hook, gradually increasing the speed until it forms a ball of dough. If it's not coming together gradually add small amounts more flour until it forms a ball around the hook. You should be able to grab and remove it from the hook with slightly floured hands. This dough should not be sticky, it will be a firm ball of dough and very easy to handle.
   
   
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, you can knead it a few more times to make it smooth but don't over knead it. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper and lightly dusting it with flour. Take your dough and cut it in half, then each half in half, then each quarter in half again so you have 8 roughly even pieces.
   
   
5. Take each bagel piece and poke a hole in the center using your thumb. Then, use your hands to lightly stretch the dough to create the hole and smooth the dough. Be careful here not to over do this process or you may flatten the bagels. When you place them on the sheet, the hole should be rough an inch around and the bagels should be slightly plump.
   
   
6. When you've made all the bagels, cover with a damp tea towel and place somewhere to proof. These should take about 30 minutes to proof but could take a little longer. You don't want them to double in size, they should more rise to about 1.5x's their original size.
   
   
7. While the bagles are proofing, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large pot with water, the baking soda and sugar and bring to the boil. When the water is to a rolling boil, drop in the bagels boiling one at a time. Boil each bagel for 1 minute, flipping half way through. Place the bagels back onto the baking sheet. At this point they will have gotten larger so you may need to get a second baking sheet.
   
   
8. Prepare the vegan egg wash by whisking the non-dairy milk and syrup together. Brush the egg wash on the bagels and cover with the everything seasoning.
   
   
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Notes

*I get the everything bagel seasoning at whole foods and it has everything you need. But if you can't find it, you'll need poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, salt and pepper.

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I have to admit, I think I’m slightly behind the eight ball on this one. About 3 years ago, Pinterest was loaded with ideas for crustless mini quiches and everyone was going crazy about how delicious and low card they are. Of course this was back when a lot of different types of food intimidated me and I falsely believed things like mini quiches were difficult to do. I have to admit, I could not have been more wrong about these, they are easy, delicious and totally worth doing. That’s why I’m sharing these Spicy Italian Mini Quiches as an idea for Christmas Breakfast!

Honestly, whether you have a nice sit down, brunch style breakfast on Christmas morning, or you just plop down on the couch for a few minutes opening presents before getting ready for the day, these are pretty perfect. They’re a super fast grab and go breakfast, but they can also be a beautiful and delicious part of a large brunch spread. Like I always say, it’s your world baby, I’m just here to lend help, ideas and guidance when needed.

So, there’s two reasons why this recipe was something I wanted to try. First, have you guys had the Starbucks egg bites? If you haven’t, they’re these massively overpriced (shocking I know) tiny egg pieces with filling in them that people pay 5 dollars for so they can avoid carbs at Starbucks. As a person who swings back and forth on whether or not I should cut carbs to lose weight, or eat them and learn to just accept myself, I have definitely paid for these.

You know when you get something and it’s super expensive and you’re mad because it’s not worth it? That’s how I feel about those. So I had thought about trying to make them and then when I accidentally made the mini quiches with the Savory Pumpkin Quiche leftovers, I realized how strikingly similar mini quiches are to the egg bites. But they’re literally just better!

I truly think that one of the best things you can do for yourself is just try to cook at home as often as possible. It’s amazing for your health and your wallet. You don’t have to do it all at once, one day at a time. Just take little things you spend money on, and learn to make it yourself! You won’t always have time and that’s fine, but it feels awesome when you do.

Lots of Love,

Jackie

Spicy Italian Mini Quiches

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Mini crustless quiches loaded with Italian sausage flavored tempeh with hot and spicy giardiniera and cherry tomatoes, perfect for a healthy delicious breakfast.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Italian, Vegetarian

Serves: 12-18 quiches

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion, diced finely
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 8 oz package tempeh
• 2 tsp fennel seed
• 2 tbsp italian seasoning
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp marinara sauce or plain tomato sauce
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp high heat cooking oil (see notes)
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup hot cherry peppers or giardianara
• ¼ cup almond milk
• 12 eggs, whisked
• fresh basil (optional)
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese* (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large, preferably cast iron, skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.
   
   
2. Add the tempeh to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to get it broken up. Add the saute'd onions and garlic, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast, marinara sauce, white pepper, rubbed sage and sea salt and pulse until smooth.
   
   
3. Add the high heat cooking oil to the same skillet where you saute'd the onions and garlic. Transfer the tempeh mixture into a large bowl and oil your hand. Using you hand, school the mixture out about a ⅓ cup at a time and flatten it into patties. Drop the patties into the oil and cook until they're browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes on each side.
   
   
4. Once the patties are browned on both sides, they will have hardened slightly, start breaking off corners of each patty with your spatula and continue breaking it up until it forms a crumbled texture in the pan. Add the soy sauce or tamari and dijon mustard to the mixture and continue stirring and breaking it up with the spatula. Cook for about 5 more minutes until the soy sauce has evaporated and the tempeh should be a dark color and resemble either ground meat or crumbled sausage pieces.
   
   
5. Transfer the sausage to a bowl and add in the cherry tomatoes and giardianara or hot cherry peppers and toss to slightly combine.
   
   
6. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and almond milk and some pieces of fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese if you're using that.
   
   
7. Grease a muffin tin with oil, butter or spray. Add the tempeh, tomatoes and peppers mixture into each muffin cup, 1-2 tablespoons in each depending on how stuffed you want the quiches to be. Then pour the egg mixture over the top into each muffin cup filling almost to the top.
   
   
8. Carefully (so as not to spill any eggs) transfer the muffin pan to the oven and baking for 25 minutes. To tell if their cooked, you can poke the tops and they should bounce back at you and not be liquid. Serve right away or they'll keep in your fridge for a week and are reheated very easily.

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Okay so I already revealed my very clever feast of seven non-fishes for your Christmas dinner, our second type of Christmas dishes we’re rolling out our ideas for your Christmas brunch!

A lot of people I know celebrate Christmas morning with their families, it’s a beautiful time to sit around and exchange gifts in PJ’s with the people you love. And this recipe is absolutely the perfect start to a lovely Christmas morning. It’s sweet, festive and is put together the night before.

The best thing about testing this recipe was the fact that I could basically shuffle downstairs on Saturday morning, stuff it into the oven and go about my morning and have a delicious breakfast in an hour.  It takes virtually no effort and even putting it together the night before is a breeze that only takes about 10 minutes of your time.

This recipe is not only easy, beautiful and festive, but it’s also seriously delicious and pulls this off without being too full of sugar and without even using real cream cheese! Of course, if you’re not vegan you can make that switch, but I’m telling you this vegan cream cheese is ballin!

The cranberries when cooked down become sweet, the vegan cream cheese adds creaminess to every other bite, and the orange flavor adds the perfect tanginess. You can choose to top it with the cranberry orange sauce, or just more syrup, it’s your Christmas brunch party!

The best part here is that this dish is so easy that even if you’re not throwing a brunch get together or cooking for a crowd, you can make it just for your family for a beautiful treat when cooking breakfast. I know in my family, we never really ate breakfast on Christmas morning, my mom hosted dinner so we usually had to open gifts and then get right into cleaning aggressively. If this is your situation, this dish will be a nice treat with very minimal effort.

Let’s get the holiday partying start people!

Lots of love,

Jackie

Overnight Cranberry Orange French Toast Casserole

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Make ahead Cranberry Orange French Toast baked into a casserole with creamy vegan cream cheese and topped with a cranberry orange syrup.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Vegan, Vegetarian

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

• French Toast Casserole
• 1 14oz block extra firm tofu
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 loaf brioche or challah bread, sliced into blocks
• 1-2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 oranges, peeled and sliced
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 
  
  
• Cranberry sauce
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 tsp orange zest (about 1 orange)
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions

1. Prepare the cream cheese first by squeezing all the water out of the tofu using a tea towel. Transfer the dry tofu to a high speed blender and add in the vinegar, lemon juice, salt, maple syrup and cinnamon. Blend on high until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge to chill.
   
   
2. Next prepare the french toast. Butter the pan and place the sliced bread into the buttered pan. Add the cranberries and orange slices in with the bread and toss until it's even. In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, almond milk, syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined. Pour the wet mix over the bread. Cover with foil and leave to soak overnight.
   
   
3. The next day when you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the foil from the casserole, drop in dollops of the cream cheese evenly spaced apart across the casserole. They should only be about an inch apart.
   
   
4. Recover with the foil and bake in the oven for one hour. br]
   
5. Serve with syrup, or make the cranberry sauce. To make the sauce but the cranberries, orange zest, orange juice and maple syrup and bring the mixture a boil. Reduce and simmer for 15 minutes until the cranberries are cooked down and whisk to make sure it's fully combined.

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Okay so November is flying by and that means my favorite holiday is only a a day away! It also means that you guys are almost done with having to endure my incredible basic-ness and all these pumpkin recipes. Not quite yet though, I have one more to push us over the edge, Pumpkin Sage Drop Biscuits.

I completed this recipe probably close to a month ago and wanted to post it close to Thanksgiving because it is a really great holiday side dish and an extra fun thing to throw out instead of frozen rolls. Not that there’s anything wrong with frozen or store bought rolls, I’m straight up addicted to Pillsbury biscuits.

Of course in the month that I’ve been sitting on this one, about 80 other people have posted incredibly similar recipes but sometimes you just have to face the facts of your own lack of creativity. I’ll tell you this though, I can’t verify whether or not those recipes work or how they taste but I CAN verify that this one does. They come out flaky, moist, flavorful and delicious.

You can do this recipe either on a baking sheet, or you can drop them into a cast iron skillet and make a skillet bread. I did test them both ways and there’s basically no difference other than the way they look. You can also double the recipe if you’re doing it for a crowd.

I’ll be back Friday with a super easy recipe to make this weekend that will help you take a break from too extensive cooking. Until then I’ll get out of here and let everyone enjoy their holiday!

Love,

Jackie

Pumpkin Sage Biscuits

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Sweet and savory Pumpkin Sage Biscuits with fresh sage and rosemary are the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving table.

Author: Jackie DeSana

Recipe type: Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine: Holiday, Vegetarian, Vegan

Serves: 10 biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 8 tbsp salted butter, chilled
• ¾ cup pureed pumpkin
• 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes until the almond milk starts to curdle.
   
   
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
   
   
3. Add the butter to the dry ingredients. Work the butter into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter if you have it. If you're using your hands, just repeatedly crumble the butter working it into the flour. When It's fully worked in it will look kind of like slightly wet sand.
   
   
4. Add the pumpkin into the almond milk mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add the basil, rosemary and sage and fold with a spatula until it forms a batter and everything is mixed. Be careful not to over mix.
   
   
5. Drop the biscuits in circles onto a greased baking sheet. About ¼ cup of batter per biscuit. Bake for 20 minutes then remove and set onto a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter!

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