Brunch on!

This is an early bird post for the March VegCookbook Club selection, Vegan Brunch, because I couldn't wait until tomorrow to start brunching! This beautiful, colorful cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a hoot, filled with her usual humorous voice and 175 homestyle, comfort food recipes. It's like having a friend dish all her "hostess with the mostest" brunch secrets.

The recipes are divided into the following sections: The Savory, The Sweet, The Sides, The Bread Basket, The Toppings, and The Drinks. There are also glorious food porn photos that make you want to drop everything and get your brunch on, 24/7.

I made both of these brunch dishes for dinner but I'm looking forward to having some lazy weekend brunches in the near future. (Maybe even a brunch picnic, if Spring ever arrives.) This book has me breaking out the tofu blocks until then.  

Basic Scrambled Tofu with Roasted Portobellos
I'm not usually a tofu scramble fan. Often I find these breakfast scrambles to be dull and dry. However, this recipe was super tasty, as promised. I added onions, carrots, and cremini mushrooms to the scramble. Because it was nicely seasoned with cumin, thyme, turmeric, and garlic, I didn't need to drown my plate in condiments. In the future, I'd recommend doubling the recipe in order to make seconds or leftovers.

Scrambled tofu close-up

I topped the scramble with roasted portobellos, a side recipe. This easy and tasty mushroom preparation is also a keeper. It simply calls for cooking wine, soy sauce, garlic, oil, and balsamic.  I wonder if I could roast the mushrooms in a toaster oven rather than heating up the "big oven?"

Classic Broccoli Quiche
This quiche looked so pretty. However compared to the scramble, the tofu here tasted bland. This might be because I forget to add Dijon mustard to the tofu and cashew blend. (I served the mustard on the side with hot sauce and ketchup.) Also I didn't have any tarragon on hand but I added some dill as a substitute green herb. The cherry tomatoes were a nice decorative touch.  

Quiche cross section