Lazy weekend mornings can be a bit of a thing at my house, but they often give way to late morning and early afternoon plans that keep us going until the sun goes down. That often means we have time for rather glorious breakfasts, but lunch just isn't happening. So we like putting together meals that will keep us fueled for most of the day and keep wails of "I'm hungry" at bay. Enter the breakfast bowl:
I love assembling bowls like these because I can pick and choose what I want in them, keep a fun foundation of roasted potatoes, and put it all in a bowl before setting it before my hungry family. If I'm wanting a Tex-Mex feel, I can season the taters with southwestern seasoning, use spicier peppers and some salsa and/or hot sauce, and opt for pepperjack cheese. If I've been hankering for biscuits and gravy, I can use crumbled breakfast sausage instead of bacon and add a dollop of country gravy to the taters before topping it with eggs. You get the idea.
Of course, my favorite rendition involves a standard mix of taters, bacon, sweet peppers, and onion topped with an over-medium fried egg and some sharp white cheddar cheese. Sometimes I'll add a piece of toast, though I often just swab up any of the runny yolk with the taters already in the bowl. It's warm, satisfying and keeps me going until it's time for dinner so I can focus on snowshoeing with the dog, going to the geology museum winter workshop, or flying kites on ice … or any of the other wintertime adventures that await me and my family.
Now, if you happened to know you'd be busier than usual on a given morning, you could easily assemble and roast the tater mixture portion of this recipe in advance and simply reheat it in the morning. Since most of the prep time involved in this dish happens while that's all roasting, you could easily save yourself over a half an hour's time in the morning. That said, do make the eggs fresh and to your liking, as they are best fresh out of the pan.
Everything Breakfast Bowls
- 4 thick cut slices smoked bacon, chopped
- 2-3 large baking potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2-3 mini sweet peppers, sliced into rings
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 4 eggs, cooked to order
- ⅔ c. shredded cheese
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Place the bacon in a cast iron skillet and fry until nearly crisp. Remove from the stove and add the chopped potatoes, sliced peppers, chopped onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the pan. Toss well to combine and coat with bacon fat and cooking oil. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
While the potatoes are roasting, prepare the eggs to your tastes and shred cheese if needed.
When the potatoes are done roasting, remove them from the oven and divide the mixture evenly between 4 serving bowls. Add the eggs to the top of the bowls and sprinkle each bowl with shredded cheese. Serve immediately.
- Yields: 4 servings
- Preparation Time: 50 minutes