One of my favorite things about the weekend is being able to spend time in my kitchen in the morning before anyone else is up. I sip my piping hot coffee, and the only sounds are the birds chirping in the yard, and well, the noise I make in the kitchen. I swear to Pete that whenever I try to be quiet is when I make the most noise!
And while I don’t mind feeding a crowd on a weekend, I am also meal prepping for the week. Working in Chicago there are a million places to eat within a four block radius of my office, and it’s so easy to get in the trap of getting breakfast and lunch downtown if I don’t meal plan.
Quiche is one of those recipes that is great to have in your back pocket, not only for a lazy Sunday brunch, but it’s a great way to use up all the odds and ends in your fridge. While I love a buttery crust in a quiche, lately I’ve been using shredded baked potatoes as the base for my quiche. It’s super cheap (I recently bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes for $2), and I love the texture.
Here is another meal prep tip for you – bake up a few (or half a dozen depending on the size of your family) potatoes over the weekend, let cool and stick them in your fridge. You’ll have fully cooked potatoes to make a quick breakfast hash in the morning before work, a chili baked potato for lunch, or chop them up as a side dish for dinner with a bit of fresh chopped rosemary and butter.
This is what I used for my Sunday brunch quiche recently: I happened to have leftover steak, grilled mushrooms and zucchini, but feel free to leave out the protein all together, and add whatever veggies you have on hand. I recently stumbled upon Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and I am finding I want to add it to all my breakfast foods. The taste of any everything bagel without all the carbs!
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Put the shredded potato in the bottom of the pie pan. Add the veggies and steak to the potatoes.
In a 4 cup measuring cup, stir the egg whites, milk, eggs, Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, salt and pepper and pour over the potato mixture.
Top with the shredded cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
If you are looking to kick up your brunch game, check out all the cool brunch classes we have coming up at The Chopping Block's Lincoln Square and Merchandise Mart locations.
What is your go-to brunch recipe? Do you go sweet or savory? I’d love to hear in the comments!