Tag Archives: breakfast

Blueberry Banana Protein Pancakes

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Have you ever had a bad day when it starts with pancakes for breakfast? I haven’t either! Protein pancakes have always come out dense and dry for me. Thanks to the dalgona craze that’s been taking over the Internet lately, I’ve developed an interest in egg whites and what they can do to combat dry or dense recipes, and that’s exactly what happened with these banana blueberry pancakes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 speckly banana, mashed
  • 2 scoops Tropeaka lean protein powder (40g)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 handful of blueberries, mashed
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Toppings:

  • Siggi’s vanilla yogurt
  • 1 tbsp almond butter
  • Whole blueberries

Directions:

  1. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into separate bowls. Beat the egg whites for about 2 minutes, until soft peaks form.
  2. Mix the egg yolk, mashed banana, mashed blueberries, and protein powder until a smooth consistency is achieved.
  3. Gently fold in the egg whites until roughly combined.
  4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Once it’s warmed, add a thin layer of the mixture onto the pan.
  5. Once small bubbles start forming on the surface of the pancakes (about 2 minutes) and the sides lift easily under a spatula, they’re ready to be flipped!
  6. Give the pancakes a flip and cook for another 2 minutes.

Notes:

  • Whipped egg whites and baking powder are what makes these pancakes nice and fluffy, so make sure to beat the egg whites separately before folding them in.
  • Salt’s role in this recipe is to bring out the flavor of the other sweet ingredients – don’t omit it!
  • When folding in the egg whites, the mixture doesn’t need to be perfectly mixed. Overmixing will break down the airy strucure of the egg whites.

Curried Tumeric Scrambled Eggs on Toast

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When your roommate looks at your breakfast and remarks, “Wow, how did you make some veggies on eggs and toast look so delicious?”, you figure it’s a good recipe to document on your blog that no one reads 🙂 I make this most often when I want something fast, light, and fresh. Sometimes, I can’t be bothered to make a meal that takes more time and thoughtfulness, but I also don’t want to settle for microwaving leftovers, or turning to a prepackaged energy bar. Elevated eggs and toast falls into the grey area between “I’m lazy” and “I’m a princess”, which is how I feel about most of my meals these days.

There are few breakfast dishes I love more than the classic eggs and toast, due to how easy it is to make it taste like a sumptuous brunch the newest hipster coffee shop would charge me $14 for (yes Vive la Tarte, I’m speaking to you). My perfect breakfast is cooked so the textures are perfect: I like my eggs just a tad runny, my spinach fairly wilted, and my toast just a light shade of brown. The magic of perfect eggs and toast really comes down to timing cooking each ingredient so they’re all at the right amount of doneness at the same time, and the key to varying how scrambles taste is all in the spices.

Ingredients (for one serving):

  • 1/2 tumeric powder
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp fresh or dried herbs (I used fresh dill and a dried herb mixture from Trader Joe’s)
  • 1/2 handful of baby spinach
  • 1 slice of toast

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan on medium heat until warm. Add toast to one half of the pan, and add the spinach to the other.
  2. While the spinach and toast are cooking, whisk eggs with tumeric, curry powder, herbs, salt, and pepper.
  3. When the spinach has begun to wilt (about 1 minute), flip the bread to brown the other side.
  4. Remove the bread after it’s browned, laying it on a plate, and add the scrambled egg mixture to the pan, and turn off the heat completely.
  5. Stir the eggs around as curds begin to form, and when the eggs are at the desired doneness, remove them from the pan and plate them on your toast.
  6. Sprinkle smoked paprika powder on top of your eggs, and any other garnishes you want to incorporate (I also sprinkled on some Maldon salt, because that makes almost everything taste better).

Notes:

  • Scrambled eggs are best cooked at low temperatures, and will continue cooking even after they are removed from the pan because of the heat that they retain, so it’s best to remove them when they’re a little runnier than you want them to be in their final stage.

Herb and Garlic Sweet Potato Mash (GF, NF, Vegan, Paleo)

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It’s been a long time since my last post, hasn’t it? Since my last post back in November, a handful of other priorities have surfaced in other areas of my life that brought about a wave of reflection on how often I wanted to post new recipes and commit to sharing new culinary experiments. At the end of the day, being in the kitchen is like coming home and sinking into a warm bath; my muscles relax, and my stress dissolves as I rhythmically rock the blade of my knife over sprigs of fresh herbs. The kitchen is a place where I can create love without restriction, and share it with others. When I’m experimenting with a new creation, there’s no pressure to produce or impress. Ultimately, I decided that the cooking content on my blog should reflect a similar philosophy; beyond being a joy to make, and a joy to consume, there’s nothing else that I really want to define the food here.

With weekdays that are typically very full and demanding of time, I love carving out time for a slower brunch on the weekends, consuming it with my nose in a book, and taking my time savoring each bite. Slower brunch usually involves poached eggs and mashed avocado, because those are two breakfast staples that I think taste entirely different when made fresh, and simply aren’t indulgences I can afford during my work week. However, instead of spreading the avo on toast like I normally do, I was feeling a bit adventurous today, and decided that I wanted to pair my favorite duo with a carb source that typically isn’t seen alongside avo and poached eggs: sweet potato!

Sweet potato isn’t usually found in the same dish as mashed avo and poached eggs, because it can be tricky to make the sweet potatoes in a way that complements the two other savory items. This presented me with a fun little challenge: how would I be able to make savory sweet potato? The answer is deceptively simple: a boatload of herbs, garlic, and seasonings. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it’s easy to customize based on whatever herbs you have on hand. I used scallions and dill, but there’s no hard-and-fast rule to follow here. It’s a great way to clean out your fridge and use up some remaining fresh herbs that seem like they’re on the verge of going bad. I will say that I think using fresh herbs and garlic, as opposed to pre-minced garlic and dried herbs, folds in an unmistakable savory aroma. And don’t be afraid to use a lot of garlic and herbs, because the sugars in the sweet potato will dominate the flavor profile otherwise.

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 6 sprigs of dill
  • 6 sprigs of green onion (scallions)
  • Paprika powder
  • Onion powder
  • Tumeric powder
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions:

  1. Wash, peel, and cube the sweet potatoes. Some people like the skin of the potatoes in the mash, so you can also leave it on for more texture.
  2. Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot (I used a Dutch oven), and cover them with water. In order to shorten the cooking time, I use an electric kettle to boil the water separately. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium so that the water is a gently rolling boil, and let it cook uncovered until the potatoes are soft enough to easily slide a fork in and out (roughly 10 minutes).
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, mince the garlic, and roughly chop the herbs. I only used dill and onion in this recipe, but you can honestly use anything you want!
  4. Drain the potatoes and transfer them back into the same pot. Using a fork or spatula, mash the potatoes, which should be easy if they’re cooked enough.
  5. Fold in the apple cider vinegar, herbs, and spices (paprika, tumeric, onion, salt, and pepper), adjusting the seasoning ratios to your liking.

That’s it! This is such a versatile, simple side to make that pairs well with just about anything. Use it in place of white mashed potatoes when serving a steak. Spread it on a slice of toasted rustic bread. Layer some smoked salmon and capers on top of it, drizzled with a bit of lemon juice. This morning, I made my favorite avocado mash (recipe coming soon!), and poached an egg on top, letting all that yolky goodness bind the different textures and flavors together. It was one of the best slow brunches I’ve made in ages.

If you try this recipe out (or do any variations on it), let me know in the comments below 🙂 Happy lazy Sunday brunching.