This is a delicious vegan breakfast casserole that's relatively easy to make, and extremely tasty. First, you make a biscuit layer, then you top it with sausage, bacon, sliced cheese, scrambled tofu, and a cashew cheese sauce. This is a veganized version of a non-vegan recipe I saw in some magazine at my mom's house years ago. Specific enough?
Feel free to use this is a starting point, and add whatever you want or have on hand.
Before you even start, you'll want to soak ½ cup of raw cashews in water for an hour or more to soften them up. If you don't have a high-speed blender, give it a couple of hours if you can.
First, make the biscuit dough
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup vegan margarine, sliced
- ⅔ cup vegan buttermilk (plain soy/nut milk mixed with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar)
Add the dry ingredients to a food processor (or mixing bowl) and pulse to combine. Then add the wet ingredients and pulse to combine again. It will form a sticky dough.
Add the biscuit dough to a greased 9x13 baking pan, and press to spread evenly across the bottom.
Scrambled Tofu Time!
Around the same time, you'll want to start making the scrambled tofu. If you already have a recipe you like for this, use it. If not, here's mine. I kind of eyeball the spices, but I'll try to estimate for you.
- Olive oil
- 1 lb extra-firm tofu, crumbled
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- ¾ tsp turmeric
- Black pepper, to taste
- Prepared vegetable broth (optional)
Drain the tofu if you have to. I like to buy the extra firm variety that doesn't need to be drained, but that may not be available everywhere.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and cook until they're soft.
Add the sliced mushrooms and chopped bell pepper. Cook for a few more minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. I covered my skillet to avoid losing too much moisture.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, then add the spice blend and stir, cooking for a little bit.
Add the tofu and cook for a few more minutes. You don't need to cook the crap out of it, because it's going to be baked for a half hour. Hopefully you will be as well. If it's sticking too much, add some vegetable broth. It'll help and enhance the flavor. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if necessary.
Back to the assembly!
After adding the biscuit layer, I used large patties of vegan sausage to make a layer on top of the biscuit dough. I used Lightlife Gimme Lean sausage.
On top of that, about half of the scrambled tofu.
Cheese slices!
I used the Follow Your Heart American style slices. I think they legitimately taste good. I've been a vegan for just about ten years, and I won't sugarcoat it for you: a lot of vegan cheese really does suck. People pretend it doesn't, but it does. Many dishes are, in my opinion, better off without vegan cheese. These slices are tasty, though, and really added something to this dish that even non-vegans would appreciate.
Bacon
It's the bacon-flavored seitan by Upton's. Is it like pork bacon? No, it's not. It's not as fatty or as salty. Is it tasty as hell? Yes, yes it is. It's wonderful crafted seitan with a delicous smokey taste.
Side note: I didn't cook the bacon or seitan. I added it to casserole the way it is in the package, which is actually pre-cooked.
MORE TOFU
Add the other half of the scrambled tofu.
Look at those delicious layers!
TIME TO GET BAKED!
Cover the casserole with foil, and bake at 400ºF for about 20 minutes, and then remove the foil and cook for about 10 more minutes, or until the biscuit is done and the sausage is cooked.
In the meantime, make the cheese sauce.
It's easiest in a high-speed blender. If you don't have one, soak the cashews really well, and blend it however you can.
- ½ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ cup raw cashews or cashew pieces, soaked
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vegan margarine
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½teaspoon sea salt
- black pepper to taste (I like a lot)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Combine all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend on high until completely smooth. If you want, you can heat up the sauce this way. I put the blended sauce into a pan and kept it on low while the casserole baked, stirring every once in a while.
When the casserole is done, cut slices, and cover them with some cheese sauce, and serve.
Enjoy!
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