So maybe I’m phoning it in a bit this week. I totally blew off the blog challenge last week because I’ve been insanely busy with my new job, and I’m even busier this week. But one of the nice things about working from home (among many nice things) is that I don’t have to spend cash or calories buying my lunch every day – I can just cook it on the spot, in my own kitchen.

I’ve also used my home-time (first being unemployed briefly, and now working from home) to experiment with brunch. Basically, I just cook what I usually would and throw an egg on it. This works like a charm almost every time.

Me-Style Cuban Breakfast

Fairly frequently I make and eat my own version of a “Cuban breakfast.” Now, I’ll point out that 1.) I’m not Cuban and 2.) my version of this breakfast was in turn inspired by the Cuban breakfast at Café Patachou in Indianapolis. It is not a Cuban restaurant. But this dish is easy, delicious and not TOO unhealthy, so bear with me.

Ingredients

For the beans:

16 oz. dry black beans
3 small or 1 large sweet pepper
1 large onion
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

For the rest:

½ c. rice
2 eggs
¼ c. crumbly Mexican cheese
½ avocado
Valentina hot sauce

Cook the beans in a slow-cooker for at least 8 hours on high, adding the peppers, onions and spices once the beans are soft enough to bite through but by no means cooked. Yes, you have to taste-test an uncooked black bean.

In the morning cook your rice and egg (I like mine sunny side up, but to each her own). Plate the rice and top with beans, eggs and cheese. Garnish with avocado and use as much hot sauce as you like.

 

Asian Fusion Breakfast Scramble

If you have a lot of rice sitting around you’ll need to find something else to do with it. I didn’t want to eat beans every day, so I went a few continents over to find some inspiration and spice up my brunch (BAD PUN INTENDED).

Ingredients

½ c. rice, cooked
2 eggs
1 large sweet pepper
1 small chili pepper
1 large onion
1 tbsp. curry paste
¼ tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. ginger
Salt and pepper
Sriracha hot sauce
Cilantro

Sautee the peppers and onion until they’re tender, then add in the spices including the curry paste. Once the vegetables are mostly cooked, mix in the rice. Scramble the eggs very slightly and add them to the same pan as the sautéing vegetables and rice. Let the eggs get solidly cooked before breaking them apart and folding them into the rice and veggie mixture.

Garnish with cilantro and use as much Sriracha as you want, although you did just put a chili pepper and some curry paste in there, so maybe you won’t need it.