Vegan Brunch

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apple pie oatmeal, biscuits, breakfast sandwich, brunch, cinnamon rolls, green smoothie, green smoothie recipe, hashbrown casserole, mimosa, oatmeal, recipes, shamrock breakfast sandwiches, tofu scramble, vegan, vegan brunch, vegan brunch ideas, vegan brunch recipes

I am SO not a morning person. (But you already knew that from my Breakfast of (Vegan) Champions post.)

My hubby snapped this photo of me catching some Zzzzzs on my cat one morning recently. See? NOT so rise-and-shiny.

When I can, I love to sleep in, and, around noon, shuffle downstairs for some coffee and sustenance.

This sleeping-in-on-the-weekends habit is why brunch is such an appealing idea to me.

Also, brunch is a social affair, providing a great opportunity to get together with friends.

So, the equation goes like this:

Sleep in + amazing vegan breakfasty food + great friends = brunch!

It seems like almost every restaurant in Charleston serves brunch, and most of them rely heavily on bacon, sausage, cow’s milk, and chicken’s eggs.

(If you want to find some veg-friendly brunch spots in Charleston though, check out my list!)

But these cholesterol-filled, cruel items are not necessary at all to have a delicious brunch, and our Vegan Potluck Brunch last weekend proves it!

(Food Fact: Did you know that all vegan food is cholesterol-free?! Animal products are the only source of dietary cholesterol.)

Today I’m sharing:

– Pictures of the food we enjoyed

– Recipes!

– Ideas

So you can host your own fabulous vegan brunch!

My husband baked up a storm and served delicious cinnamon rolls, chocolate rolls (my favorite!), and biscuits:

Cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven!

Adorable, perfect little vegan biscuits

We also made savory tofu scramble, featuring crimini mushrooms, onions, and the perfect combination of spices:

Sizzling tofu scramble in the cast iron skillet

We had mimosas and all the fixings for the biscuits, including agave nectar and different flavors of jams:

What’s brunch without a little champagne, after all?

We also served coffee with vegan So Delicious creamers in regular and vanilla flavors and the green smoothie that we drink every morning, full of fruit and veggies:

A bright green smoothie, full of nutrition

Most of the friends we invited are not vegan, but they tried their hand at making vegan food, with a ton of success!

Ben whipped up some “apple pie oatmeal” from the blog Oh She Glows that tasted just like apple pie:

Apple pie secretly disguised as healthy oatmeal

Our friend Sarah, who usually doesn’t cook and wrinkles her nose at green vegetables, made these incredible Shamrock Breakfast Sandwiches from the great blog Healthy.Happy.Life.

They included vegan sausage, seasoned kale, spicy vegan mayo, and avocado on an English muffin. Um, wow!

Shamrock Breakfast Sandwiches from Healthy.Happy.Life.

Sandy made a peppery, wonderful hashbrown casserole that was perfectly golden:

I ♥ potato anything.

Kelsey graced us with fresh, tangy lemon-blueberry muffins, which she cleverly veganized from a non-vegan recipe! The lemon flavor was bright, and the fresh blueberries were perfectly sweet:

Veganized Lemon-Blueberry muffins

Here’s my completely full brunch plate:

Chocolate roll, breakfast sandwich, tofu scramble, hashbrown casserole, apple pie oatmeal, and a biscuit…I went back for seconds, believe it or not!

Recipes

Now that you’ve seen all this delicious food, you’ll probably want to make it yourself!

Below are recipes for most of the items above. Happy cooking!

– VEGAN BISCUITS

Home-made vegan biscuits can be round or heart-shaped!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tblsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3 Tblsp. sugar

6 Tblsp. vegan butter

1 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course meal. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn it out on a floured surface, and knead about 15 times. Roll the dough out to about 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a cup dipped in flour, or a biscuit cutter if you have one! Brush off any excess flour, and place the biscuits on a cookie sheet (ungreased). Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until they begin to brown. Enjoy!

– TOFU SCRAMBLE

We use the recipe from Isa Chandra Moscowitz’s Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. The recipe can be found here.

Modifications: We do only 1 tsp. of cumin because 2 just seemed too much. We also used lemon juice instead of lime. The carrot is optional, but we really liked that it added to the color.

This recipe is super versatile, so add whatever veggies make you happy!

– GREEN SMOOTHIE

We make a green smoothie each day to go with breakfast, and it varies a bit morning to morning, but here’s the usual mix. Just put it all in a blender and turn it up to high!

(I very much recommend a Vitamix high-powered blender if you feel like splurging on kitchen equipment! I am in love with ours.)

Water – 1 Cup

Chia Seeds – 1 to 2 tablespoons

Orange – Half an Orange

Cucumber – ¼ cup

Pineapple – ¼ cup

Banana – 1 whole banana, fresh or frozen

Spinach – 1 Cup

Lacinato Kale – 2-3 big leaves (take it off the stem!)

Carrot – 1 Medium Carrot, chopped into pieces

Frozen Strawberries – 4 or 5 (¼ cup roughly)

Ice – ½ Cup

Green smoothie from Puree Organic Cafe in Charleston (Photo by Alice Keeney Photography)

This here little smoothie in a 12 oz. serving has the following nutritional credentials:

279% of your Vitamin C

164% of your Vitamin A

26% of your Calcium

10% of your Iron

Cholesterol FREE

62% of your Fiber

Omega 3 & 6 Fatty Acids

It’s a pretty great way to start the day!

– APPLE PIE OATMEAL

This stuff seriously tasted just like apple pie. The recipe is from the blog Oh She Glows (which I LOVE!), and it can be found here!

– SHAMROCK BREAKFAST SANDWICHES

This creative breakfast sandwich is from another favorite blog of mine, Healthy.Happy.Life. Here’s the recipe!

It has some unusual ingredients, so feel free to substitute and leave the expensive truffle oil out!

– HASHBROWN CASSEROLE

2 bags of shredded potatoes (frozen, but thaw in fridge)

one large onion, chopped fine

banana peppers, chopped fine

lots of salt, garlic, pepper to taste

bind with water and cornstarch mixture (4 tablespoons to 1/4 cup water)

Mix and bake at 350 for about an hour and make sure the top is golden

You can also add salsa to the mix or spicy vegan cheese (like Daiya jalapeño Havarti or pepperjack)

– LEMON BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

This recipe from the Cooking Channel is easily veganized. Just sub the non-dairy milk of your choice for cow’s milk, vegan butter for dairy butter, use vegan sour cream instead of creme fraiche, and use an egg replacement powder (like Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill) for the egg.

Voila! Vegan muffins!

Ideas for Other Vegan Brunch Items

Assorted Fruit

Vegan waffles, anyone?

“Cheesy” Grits (using nutritional yeast)

Vegan bacon

French Toast

Pancakes in a variety of flavors

Breakfast Burritos

Crumbcake or Coffee Cake

Waffles in all kinds of flavors

Whatever your heart desires! There are vegan versions of everything. Just Google it!

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So what are you waiting for? Pick a date, invite some friends, and brunch it up vegan style!

Animals, the Earth, your health, and your very happy tummy will thank you!

To Sleeping In and Eating Well!

Sarah