Vegan Sunday Brunch, Episode I: The Beginning

Yo yo!

So brunch.  I know.  Best meal ever, right?  All good things in life come from brunch - strong coffee, fluffy pancakes, potatoes prepared in pretty much any fashion, tofu eggy things, and so on.  I could make a huge list detailing all the wonderful brunch foodstuffs in existence, and not surprisingly, Vegan Brunch is easily in my top 3 favorite cookbooks.  Love!

But then, the tragedy - I'm always too damn busy for brunch.  But it's a lie!  A terrible, terrible lie!  Because no one is too busy for brunch.  Because...there's always Sunday.

Here's a glimpse of my perfect Sunday - it all begins with a slow start, with some lounging and sleeping in.  Then, some good French press coffee and upbeat tuneage appears.  Good company is always nice, but not mandatory.  Fun and relaxing things then happen, like reading (leisurely reading!) and writing (free writing!), and then at some point, kitchen magic happens and suddenly there's muffins and a tofu scramble - or whatever.  And then later, maybe there's a casual coffee date or a low-key errand.  And hopefully there's music - Sunday has been my official jam day for years.  Perfection.

So this week I was all, "Screw this - no more excuses.  I'm gonna brunch it up."  But then, what to make?  Because there are so many choices!  And there I was, making a menu and trying to cram as much brunch goodness into one morning as possible when the thought occurred to me, "Why not do this every Sunday?"  And then I was all, "Self, you have a point."  If every Sunday could be a perfect Sunday, why not always enjoy perfect Sundays?

And that's the story.  What is going to make my perpetually perfect Sundays even more awesome is that I'm going to blog about them!  So today I present the first of a series, a yummy and relatively modest start to what I intend to be a trend of deliciousness.

The (late) morning began with some lemon poppyseed muffins, which I have always loved but have never made.  I turned to my old reliable cookbook, Vegan With a Vengeance, and they came out pretty tasty.  The texture was great and they weren't too sweet, though I found myself wanting more of a lemony flavor, so I'd probably double that next time.  These made a lovely accompaniment to some good coffee.

For whatever reason, I was craving greasy takeout food - does that ever happen to you guys on a Sunday?  Maybe it's the consequence of a Saturday night well spent.  So we roasted some potatoes with Earth Balance, fresh rosemary, lemon, garlic and salt, and roasted a couple tomatoes while we were at it.  And then there were the delectable open-faced egg and cheese muffins. 

Look at that beautiful goodness!  I sliced up some medium-firm tofu, used a generous amount of oil - enough to coat the bottom of a non-stick fry pan (probably 3 tablespoons or so), and fried the slabs until they turned golden brown.  As they were cooking, I sprinkled on some garlic salt, turmeric and smoked paprika which gave them a subtle but pleasant flavor.  Not an egg replica, but the texture of these were fantastic - crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside.  Served on a toasted English muffin and topped with melted vegan cheese, it definitely satisfied that takeout craving, but you know, in a better way.

And now I'm super excited for next Sunday, concocting ideas like crazy.  How do you guys feel about brunch food?  What's your idea of a perfect Sunday?

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