The day after my son’s wedding, I’m going to host a brunch. Just for my family which is small less than 20 people.
I have rented a condo so I have a full kitchen and a few hard of hearing people so the condo is perfect.
I have a few vegetarians, the last I saw them they ate cheese and I think eggs but I guess I’m not sure about the eggs. Do vegetarians eat eggs? Oh and one vegetarian is allergic to tree nuts
Any ideas for a few breakfast casseroles? I’d like to make things ahead of time. I will pick up bagels and have a bowl of cut up fruit. I also make a coffee cake that is a family tradition so I’ll make that.
Easy ideas that I can throw together easily. I will have help but want to make things easy.
Vegetarians eat eggs (unless they just don’t like eggs), vegans don’t.
When I need to feed a crowd, I often do quiches in a variety of flavors. Some vegetarian, some meat. They can be cooked ahead of time and heated up, or even served room temperature.
I often make pancakes for the family in the morning. I don’t do scratch. But the pre-made mixes at your local fancy grocery (or online) are very good. You can make them ahead of time too, like the night before. Serve them with a bowl of fruit and some maple syrup. I like the high-protein paleo variety, but most prefer their pancakes “normal.”
I was also going to suggest quiche. Or veggie frittatas. You could use the refrigerated pie crust to save some time. Also Costco sells a 2 pack quiche - one veggie, one with some meat that are decent.
@deb922 - here is a breakfast casserole I do when I have a large group. Instead of the turkey sausage you can use a vegetarian sausage ( I have done it before and it still tastes good). I put this together the day before and leave it in the refrigerator overnight before baking the next day. Sometimes I serve it with tortillas, salsa, guacamole and sour cream so everyone can make little burritos. I usually do a fruit platter with it and mimosas.
1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion (from about half a large onion)
8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (sometimes labeled “country style”)
2 cups shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup diced green pepper (from about 1 small-medium pepper)
2-3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (to equal about 1 - 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (from about 6 onions)
12 eggs
1 3/4 cup non-fat milk
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook sausage, onions, mushrooms, and garlic until sausage is no longer pink and mushrooms have given off some of their liquid, about 10 minutes. Throughout cooking, stir to crumble sausage and break up mushrooms. (You can leave the mushrooms in larger slices or break them into almost unnoticeable little pieces as you crumble the sausage.) Drain the liquid.
In a 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray, layer potatoes (there is no need to thaw them), sausage mixture, 1 cup cheese, green peppers, tomatoes, and green onions.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, parsley, salt, basil, and pepper. Whisk thoroughly to combine, then add remaining 1 cup of cheese and whisk again. Pour egg mixture evenly over other ingredients in baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Alternately, you can bake this casserole immediately.)
In the morning, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake casserole, uncovered, for about 60-70 minutes, or until egg in middle is just set and edges are lightly golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
I make egg casseroles all the time, with veggies, meat if wanted, always cheese, occasionaly potatoes or bread if I want to stretch it. All the vegetarians I know eat eggs and other dairy, but not the vegans. So easy for a crowd.
If you’re unsure about eggs, try a french toast casserole (though often you’d use eggs and milk). I made that for a group once and it was very easy to prep ahead and delicious. Basically a large pan with bread on the bottom, cinnamon etc and an egg/milk mixture you could easily hack with almond milk. Then baked in the oven, syrup poured on to serve. Recipes are around on the internet.
If I had a breakfast casserole/quiche and a yogurt “bar” in front of me, I’d be a super happy camper.
Yogurt bar: Buy the larger containers of a good quality but simple flavored yogurt (like vanilla or honey). Toppings could include some cherry granola from your area ( ), dried fruit, nuts, coconut, fresh fruit, banana chips, mini chocolate chips. YUM.
I do like breakfast tacos/burritos and have done such a bar in the past, but cook the eggs that morning.
If you’re doing bagels and coffee cake already, I’d probably leave off any strata or french toast/pancake thing that is also really carb heavy. At least with a quiche, folks can just eat the filling if they prefer.
Rather than doing yogurt parfaits already made up, I’d set that out as a bar as well.
My suggestion for a menu which would allow folks plenty to pick and choose from based on diet/preferences:
Your family coffee cake
bagels, cream cheese - and smoked fish/veggie platter if feeling lavish
fruit platter or bowls of individual fruits heavy on the berries
yogurt and granola and different jams for mixing in - folks can add berries, other fruit
an assortment of vegetarian and non-vegetarian quiches made ahead or another egg based dish
coffee, juices (add champagne for mimosas, pitchers of bloody marys if feeling indulgent )
Most of that would require little last minute kitchen time other than plating and setting up the spread.
In this part of the country (west) breakfast burritos would be welcome - you can easily prepare them ahead and even cut into thick slices to serve as a side dish … offer green chili on the side to make it more lunch-ish.
You can make granola cups in a muffin tray beforehand and fill them with greek yogurt and different types of berries.
Spanakopita is also a nice brunch item. I know they sell it in Trader Joe’s.
I really like the idea of a fresh fruit tray the night after a big party. I also like quiche since you can serve it at room temperature and cut it into smaller portions.
Think about the wedding dinner selections. If they are doing either a candy bar, or serving dessert and wedding cake, I wouldn’t serve French toast the next morning. That is just too much sugar for most adults to enjoy.
Maybe a splash of Prosecco for another toast if that is your crew.
Also consider whether your guests are travelling home by air or land. I wouldn’t have any problem with guests taking a ziploc bag of healthy food for their travels.
I love these individual “omelet breakfast bites” that you bake in a muffin tin. You can customize them to include any toppings you want, you can make them ahead, and you can even freeze them and then defrost. I usually make a tin of some with bacon or ham or chorizo, and then a tin of vegetarian. Very easy!!! http://momsneedtoknow.com/omelet-breakfast-bites-egg-omelet-recipe/. Yogurt bars are also easy and fun-plain greek yogurt with options to add honey or other sweeteners, fresh fruit, granola, etc.
Ok so I’m rethinking my approach and not having bagels or the coffee cake. The people who love it I was with last weekend so they just had it.
I’m thinking of doing the breakfast burrito bar and yogurt parfait bar. Bunches of fruit, coffee and juice. I love mimosas but think the drinkers will be hung over and people need to drive so no.
So I’m thinking of making scrambled eggs. Serve the meat on the side. And this weekend my sil made a black bean sweet potato filling which I think would go well. Then everyone can make what they want and have lots of topping which are easy. I think I can also fry up the sausage ahead of time also.
@deb922 I think you could make that mixture ahead but I think freezing will alter the texture. You can google and find a lot of recipes for black bean, corn type of filling. Trader Joe’s also makes a black bean corn salsa that is very thick.
Alternatively warm some seasoned whole black beans or pinto beans. Rosarita brand makes both and they are good. For the sweet potato or even butternutsquash roast it in the oven with red onions. It can be served cold as a burrito topping. My family loves anything served with tortillas. .
I made a very good green salsa this past weekend. I roasted (or I guess really broiled ) tomatillos, garlic, onion and jalapeño till charred. Put a bunch of cilantro in the blender along with the roasted vegetables. Take the seeds out of the jalapeño to reduce the heat. I think it with water to desired consistency. You can make it ahead and serve cold.
Stating what’s hopefully obvious, remember you won’t have the same selection of pans, muffins tins, etc. at the condo as you would have at home.
Make sure you bring what you need or confirm the place has it.
Also, less stress for you is more important than what’s being served.
Good luck.
