Hashbrown Breakfast Skillet

I hate a boring breakfast … that’s why I’ve created tasty-wacky creations such as my Cornbread Breakfast Skillet. This next recipe is one of my favorite go-to breakfasts. It can be changed up to be taco-style with salsa, cheddar cheese, and sour cream on top. Or it can be dressed up as gourmet with goat cheese and pine nuts. Here’s one of my basic recipes. I threw in the artichoke hearts in because I needed to use them up. Feel free to add or subtract any of the ingredients to fit your family’s taste.

Serves Two Moderately Hungry People

What you’ll need:

• 6 small red potatoes, shredded
• 2 morning star patties, crumbled
• 2-3 ounces of mushrooms, chopped
• 4 ounces of artichoke hearts, chopped
• 3-4 eggs
• blue cheese crumbles, for garnish
• butter/oil
• salt & pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add shredded potatoes, boil for 1-2 minutes, drain into fine mesh sieve or colander. 

In a large cast iron skillet heated to medium, add sausage, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Fry until slightly brown and crispy. Remove from skillet and set aside for later. 

Get the skillet hot again. Add oil or butter of your choosing. Then add the shredded potatoes. Fry until brown and crispy on both sides, about 6-8 minutes on each side. Add more oil/butter as needed to keep frying the potatoes up nicely.

*Note* The trick to great crispy hash brown is not moving them around too much. If you move them around … the starch in them gets all gooey and that’s what gives you chewy potatoes. The blanching process we started out with helps rid the potatoes shreds of some of their starch so they will fry up nicely.

Next, layer the sausage, mushroom, artichoke mixture on top of the hash brown layer. Crack the eggs over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. I like mine well-done. Top the skillet with a sprinkle of blue cheese and serve it up!

How do you overcome the boring-breakfast blues?

Until next time, I send you peace, love, and good energy.

~Sharon

Crispy Tofu Bowl

Recipe inventing comes naturally to me … I am constantly thinking of new combinations in my head. Sometimes, I challenge myself to make an exciting dish out of what’s already in my kitchen/garden. I also don’t have much time, so I usually come up with these ideas when I’m at school or work … I jot a few things down, use some of the cooking techniques I’m familiar with, and then throw in a new twist.

Here’s yet another one of those concoctions … I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it turned out splendid and it got the stamp of approval from my Sweetie.

What you will need:

• 8 ounces of tofu, thinly sliced.
• a cup of broccoli florets
• 15-20 shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• 1 lb or green beans, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• skillet
• oil or butter
• salt and pepper
• Blue cheese crumbles for garnish

Saute` tofu over medium heat until crisp, season with salt and pepper, remove from pan and place into a bowl until later. 

Saute` mushroom caps until brown, season with salt a pepper, remove from pan and place in bowl with tofu. 

Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the green beans and broccoli and char.  Season with salt and pepper. This will cook the vegetables slightly while giving them a nice smoky flavor. 

Now push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the tofu and mushrooms back to the pan to warm them through. 

To plate: Place a large scoop or two of vegetables to a bowl. Then put down a layer of mushroom, top with the tofu and then sprinkle on the blue cheese. The blue cheese gives a nice creamy element to the crisp veggies and tofu while adding a nice punch of flavor to the dish.

Please let me know what you think in the comments section. I always love hearing feedback.

Until next time, I send you peace, love, and good energy.

~Sharon