Tag Archives: Breakfast

Cherry Bars

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Let’s talk about seasonal foods.

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I love eating seasonally. Like I said yesterday, I look forward to sweet corn in the summer all year long. Same with peaches. Brussels sprouts in the fall, oranges in the winter, beans in the spring.

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But what happens when I just want corn in the winter and don’t want to settle for the canned/frozen variety. What happens when I just want a juicy ripe peach in the spring and the ones in the grocery store leave very little to be desired?

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That is the down part. Missing these wonderful fruits and veggies when they are not in season. But, it is the way of the world and I guess I can settle on enjoying each and every moment I do have with my beloved fruits and veggies each season, knowing that there will be a new one to enjoy soon. And the cycle will go on and on and on.

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These cherries. Two weeks ago at market, we’d thought it’d be the last for the red gems. Well, they were back this past Sunday. Those disappointed about the last cherries of the season got another week out of Three Springs Fruit Farm. Another week to enjoy this awesome little fruit.

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If you are someone who still has some cherries around, maybe try these bars.

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Yes, cherries are awesome as is. Pop one into your mouth, eat around the pit, spit it out and repeat. I really enjoy cherries like that. But they are also good in breakfast-y and dessert-y things.

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I have been on a roll with cherry recipes the last couple of weeks. A crumble version for two, here, and a breakfast version, here.

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Now this one, inspired by this recipe from White on Rice Couple. I wanted something that was portable and sweet. Could be counted as dessert, a snack or breakfast. The original apricot version looks delightful, but I thought it would be just as good with cherries subbed in, too.

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I did love these. They are a great snack and just perfectly sweet. They are also a good breakfast. 🙂

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If you’re looking for something to do with the last cherries of this season, click here for this wonderful recipe. I subbed cherries for the apricots and white wine for the Grand Marnier. Otherwise, I did everything the same.

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And, if cherries are done where you are, I’m sure you are now enjoying the next best thing and already looking forward to the next cherry season. 🙂

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Enjoy!

Fresh Cherry Vanilla Baked Oatmeal

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I baked you something warm and comforting.

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This is a sweet and filling summertime breakfast.

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Baked oatmeal is a go-to comforting recipe. It’s so easy to do and hard to mess up. That’s what I was looking for when I made this.

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Last week, I attempted a dessert to share with you that went terribly wrong. And I attempted to change up one of my favorite recipes from my mom. It was not a change for the better.

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Both were edible, but not share-able. We ate both but they left no great impression. That’s why I made this oatmeal.

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I needed to make something I knew would be good. I needed something to comfort me. I needed to make something to reassure me, that I can make something good.

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This oatmeal did the trick.

ingredients

Cherry + vanilla is one of my all-time favorite combinations. I go crazy for cherry vanilla ice cream. And when I had a cherry vanilla cupcake a few months ago in DC, I couldn’t believe my taste buds. I decided to recreate that cupcake, and my maraschino and vanilla cupcakes are one of the most popular recipes on this site. You just can’t go wrong with cherry and vanilla.

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And what better time of the year for cherries. They are gorgeous right now, like little pieces of art. And they taste amazing. I can’t even get over how much I love eating cherries right now.

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This oatmeal is simple. Not many ingredients. But it is full of vanilla flavor. It is studded with real vanilla beans, which I think is one of the best flavors, ever. And, I added vanilla extract, to make that vanilla flavor even more amplified. The cherries are mixed right in, at the end, and they become soft and sweet, sort of like in a cherry dessert.

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I think this would be an awesome weekend breakfast, with room for leftovers all week. I hope you enjoy this cherry vanilla baked oatmeal!

Ingredients
3 cups oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (I used coconut)
1 egg
2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped from the stem
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1-2 cups of cherries, depending on your preference, pitted

Preheat the oven to 350*.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk together well.

In another bowl, combine the milk, egg, vanilla beans seeds, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil. Mix together well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until just combined. Gently stir in the cherries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until firm and slightly golden.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-I enjoyed this oatmeal both warm and cold, with almond milk.
-For directions on how to scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean, see here.

Heirloom Tomato + Pesto Quiche

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More quiche for you!

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This one was good. I think the best one ever. Pesto + cheese + heirloom tomatoes = an unbelievable combination. One that I would put in pasta. Why not in a quiche?

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I’ve said it before but I just love making quiche and having it around because it is good for any meal.

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Serve it with some form of potato for a nice weekend breakfast, on it’s own for lunch or with a big green salad for dinner.

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It just works!

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I usually make two quiches at a time and eat them for various meals all throughout the week.

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And, I use frozen store-bought crust. I wish I was making my own, but I’m just not there yet. Does anyone have a super simple homemade crust recipe? Please share — I’d love to give it a try.

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Now, for this quiche, you definitely have to like pesto to enjoy it. I made this once and put 1/2 cup of pesto in it. The pesto flavor was prominent. I did enjoy it, but the next time I made it I put 1/3 cup of pesto in it, just to see how that would turn out. It was good too and much less strong on the pesto taste. So, in the ingredients list I said to add 1/3 – 1/2 cup of pesto, depending on your taste for it! It’s good either way, just choose how strong you want it to be!

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Also, as far as assembling the quiche. The first time I made it, the order I went in was first crust (obviously), pesto, tomatoes, cheese, egg. The second time I went crust, pesto, cheese, egg and then tomatoes. I reversed the order of egg and tomato. I definitely enjoyed the second try better as far as order, with the egg going before the tomatoes — the tomatoes on top. That is what I put in the directions.

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I hope that you get to make and enjoy this simple, delicious quiche!

Ingredients:
*This is what I used for one quiche. Can easily be doubled, tripled, etc.
1 9-inch pie crust (I used a frozen store-bought one)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used coconut)
1/3 – 1/2 cup pesto
3/4 cup mini heirloom tomatoes, sliced
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.

Start by slicing the tomatoes. I took each mini heirloom tomato and sliced it lengthwise into thirds.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Whisk the eggs well. Add the coconut milk (or regular milk) and whisk well again until the milk is incorporated.

Spoon the pesto into the bottom of the pie crust. Using the back of a spoon, gently smooth it over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle the cheese over the pesto. Pour the eggs over the cheese. At this point, I took the whisk I used to mix the eggs and very gently stirred the egg mixture in the crust. I did not want to incorporate all of the ingredients, just wanted to make sure they cooked together a bit. Last, place the tomatoes slices over the eggs. The tomatoes should cover the entire top of the quiche.

Place the quiche in the preheated oven and bake at 350* for 10 minutes. Increase the heat to 400* and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

*This will be best if you let if cool for about 20 minutes before eating. It will be watery/runny straight from the oven. The longer you let it cool, the better it will be. It makes excellent leftovers because once you warm it up in the microwave, it doesn’t get runny again.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-I made this once and used 1/2 cup of pesto and another time I used 1/3 cup of pesto. It was good both times. The pesto amount is definitely flexible — the point of it is to add flavor — so add as much or as little depending on your love (or not) of it.

-If you can’t find mini heirloom tomatoes (I feel like I was lucky!) just used grape or cherry tomatoes. Or any tomatoes you have!

-You can use any type of milk that you like! It doesn’t have to be coconut.

-It seems to me that the time in the oven for quiche is very variable. The first time I made this quiche it took 35 minutes total. The second time it took 50 minutes total. I bake it on on a lower temperature at first, just to get it started without being too hot right away. Once you increase the heat to 400*, I would start checking it after 30 minutes.

-Again, this is best if you let if cool before eating. It is watery/runny right out of the oven. It reheats in the microwave very well.

Asparagus + Mushroom + Spring Onion Quiche

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I can’t believe that this is only the second quiche that I am sharing with you.

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I am in love with quiche. It has always been a favorite dish of mine.

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I got a call from my mom on Saturday morning and she asked me if I was hungry.

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She told me that she made the best quiche ever, did I want any? I had just finished breakfast but figured that by the time I got ready and drove home, I would be ready to try this quiche.

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I pulled in, walked through the door and my mom sliced me a huge slice of quiche. It took one bite for me to agree. This was the best quiche ever!

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I don’t know what it is.  It may be the combination of fresh, spring veggies. Or maybe my mom found the perfect egg to cream ratio. Whatever it is, this quiche is just right.

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Ingredients
*This makes two 9-inch quiches
1 bunch of asparagus
4 green spring onions
8 oz. mushrooms
2 – 9 inch round pie crusts
8 eggs, divided
1 cup half and half, divided
Olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt, pepper and garlic salt
1 cup cheese, divided (I used mixed Italian and freshly grated parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350*. Roll out the dough and lightly grease two 9-inch pie pans. Push the dough into the pie pans.

Prep your veggies. Chop the asparagus, onions and mushrooms so that they are all about the same size. Drizzle some olive oil into a pan over medium heat and once hot, add asparagus first. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until asparagus begins to get soft. Then add the onions, cooking another 2 minutes to get them soft. Next, add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, garlic salt (to taste) and butter and cook all veggies together for about 5 minutes. Veggies should be soft and slightly browned when done.

For each quiche, crack 4 eggs into a bowl. Whisk well with 1/2 cup of cream.

To assemble each quiche, first put the veggies onto the bottom of each crust. Then add 1/2 cup of cheese to each, on top of the veggies. Next, pour the egg mixture over the veggies and cheese.

Place the quiche in the oven. Set the time for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, stir the quiche filling around. It should be slightly set already, but that is okay. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Peach + Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

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Baked oatmeal, again.

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This is the 63rd post on this little blog and the third time I made baked oatmeal for you. That’s one baked oatmeal every 21 days. Except that my first two baked oatmeal recipes were posted just 10 days apart.

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I was going to take a break from making baked oatmeal until this past weekend. I ate it at a restaurant. And after the first bite, I knew I’d be making it for you soon.

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This combo of peaches + cranberries was inspired by what I ate at Cafe 101. I’ve had the idea of peach baked oatmeal in the back of my mind for a while, but have been waiting for fresh peaches. Cafe 101’s baked oatmeal was so good though, and I’m pretty certain the peaches weren’t fresh, so I decided to go for it. What made my decision even easier was the can of Three Springs Fruit Farm peaches I had in my cupboard. With that, I had no doubt that canned peaches would suffice.

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Even though this is the third time I made you baked oatmeal, this is the first time it doesn’t contain nuts. Or golden raisins. But it does have dried cranberries. Those are close to raisins. I really wanted to use fresh cranberries, but could not find them! I don’t think I realized fresh cranberries were a seasonal purchase. Definitely wrong about that.

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And! I baked this in my cast iron skillet. Yes, I am obsessed. It’s the best.

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This oatmeal is delicious. Not overly sweet, but for me, just the right amount. The cranberries get plump and the juicy peaches break right apart after they are baked. Sweet cinnamon and vanilla compliment the fruit perfectly.

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Ingredients
2 cups oats (I used old fashioned)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1  1/2 cups milk (I used almond)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted + cooled
5 canned peach halves, diced

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a cast iron skillet or a baking pan with butter or coconut oil.

In a bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and dried cranberries.

In another bowl, mix together the milk, egg, vanilla extract and melted butter or coconut oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix well. Fold in the diced peaches.

Transfer batter to the greased skillet or pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until oatmeal is set and slightly golden brown.

Enjoy!