I would eat breakfast every morning at chef Lee Anne Wong’s Koko Head Cafe if I could. I might occasionally mix it up with a visit to any number of delicious brunch spots on the island, but I’d be pretty happy with her French toast and daily dumpling specials every day of my life.
My breakfast obsession is not to be taken lightly. No other mealtime gets as much praise from me.
However, I recognize that, besides my lack of a breakfast slush fund, I don’t have the leisure of eating out, or time to take a subsequent food-related nap. Someday, I will know such luxury, but for now, breakfast is the hassle of my day. It has to be the quickest thing I can grab as I’m making lunches for kids and putting them in the car to go to school. If I’m lucky, I have time to make coffee and fry an egg. If I’m not, I rush out of the house and eat lunch at my desk at 10 a.m.
It’s a bit of a challenge to come up with breakfast foods that can be prepared ahead. I made breakfast burritos once and froze them, but I got tired of the center being cold when I eventually ate them. I make egg cups sometimes, but I can eat about five of those at once and still feel hungry.
Everything else that’s quick doesn’t seem very healthy. I’m forever trying to eat more veggies with breakfast, but the main way that happens is when I have time to make a salad (yes, for breakfast), or I just eat dinner leftovers.
If I have marinara spaghetti squash casserole leftover from dinner, I will always grab that for breakfast the next day. Lately I’ve been thinking, why can’t this just be made with eggs instead? Like a frittata with more oomph.
I’ve told people about spaghetti squash casserole, and they look at me like I’m crazy. People rarely prefer spaghetti squash to pasta. How could a vegetable ever be as good as spaghetti? Well, it can’t. But it can be a darn good vegetable, if you cook it right. In this case it takes a twice-baked approach.
The first time you cook spaghetti squash, it feels a bit hard and stringy. It’s technically cooked, but it tastes like what it is: squash. There’s no creaminess, as there is with acorn or butternut squash. But if you bake it into a casserole, you’ll arrive at a beautiful thing. The spaghetti squash soaks up the other flavors and becomes one with the dish — it doesn’t seem like your sauce is sitting on top of something else. The meld is hearty, tasty — and an easy breakfast to grab for the rest of the week. With a slice of sweet potato on top, I’m in heaven.
Not quite French toast and dumpling heaven, but everyday breakfast heaven, at least.
SPAGHETTI SQUASH EGG BAKE
By Mariko Jackson
- 3 pounds spaghetti squash (2 to 3 cups)
- Olive oil, as needed for squash
- 3 slices bacon, cooked until crisp
- 3 breakfast sausage links
- 8 eggs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 handfuls raw baby greens or spinach
- 1 cup broccoli florets (frozen is OK), cut into small pieces
- 1 cup shredded cheese
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds, rub flesh with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on prepared sheet and bake 45-60 minutes, or until skin is easily pierced with a fork.
Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Let squash cool about 20 minutes. Scrape flesh from skin with a fork; set aside.
Coat 9-by-12-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Chop bacon and sausage. In large bowl, beat eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and milk until there are no obvious yolks. Add squash, bacon and sausage; mix. Add greens and broccoli; mix again.
Pour into prepared dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 40 minutes, until no longer runny and top is browned.
Cool 10 minutes; cut into squares. Serve with salsa or pesto. Leftovers will keep refrigerated 4 days. Serves 6 to 8.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (based on 6 servings and not including salsa or pesto to taste): 350 calories, 26 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 285 mg cholesterol, 650 mg sodium, 815 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 19 g protein.
Mariko Jackson blogs about family and food at thelittlefoodie.com. Her column runs on the last Wednesday of the month. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
