Sometimes, Sunday is for doing absolutely nothing, and sometimes it’s for doing a bunch of things…I like to think this past Sunday was both. Shan and I ate way too much brunch, and then watched a ridiculous amount of Scandal, on Netflix. In reality we did absolutely nothing, but we sure did a bunch of it! I have this theory, that sometimes, the only way to get rid of distractions is to completely remove them. In this case, Scandal has become our major distraction. How do we stop the distraction? By watching every episode as soon as we can. I call it the “Chip Bag Theory” – sometimes when there is a bag of open chips in front of you, you just have to smash the whole bag. Chips gone – distraction gone. Netflix is my open bag of chips. Could I practice more self control? Probably. But I do that pretty well in the rest of my life, so I find these brief lapses in control justified.
Shan and I hadn’t planned to have a lazy Sunday. She had a lengthy essay to write, and I have a neverending to-do list, but sometimes plans just go out the window. On Saturday night, with Shan at work, I busied myself searching around Pinterest for photography inspiration, when I came across this beautiful breakfast strata. Immediately craving it, I realized I still had leftover baguettes from a photoshoot. Surely it was fate, and I had to make it!
Breakfast strata is the perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday. Everything is prepared the night before, allowing the bread to sit overnight & absorb the egg. All that’s left to do the next day, is pop it in the oven. Forty-five minutes later, the houses smells amazing, and you’re sitting there indulging in blissful breakfast strata, wrapped in a blanket, watching Netflix. It’s the life. Trust me.
Bob
- 6 cups stale bread (cubed)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 large brown mushrooms (sliced)
- ½ white onion (diced)
- ½ red bell pepper (diced)
- ½ green bell pepper (diced)
- 1½ cups cooked ham (cubed)
- 1½ cups (packed) kale (stems removed & chopped)
- 5 eggs
- 1½ cups 2% milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- In a large pan on medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Once heated, add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper, saute 5-7 minutes until vegetables begin to soften and become fragrant. Salt & pepper to taste.
- Add ham and kale, mixing until evenly combined.
- Grease a 3-inch deep 9x5 inch loaf pan and fill with half of the bread. (You can also use a 13x9 inch pan - if so, fill with half of bread, all the vegetable and ham mix, 1½ cups cheese, followed by the rest of the bread, and cheese)
- Place half of the vegetable and ham mixture on top of the bread, followed by 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
- Top with the rest of the bread, followed by the vegetables and ham.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Whisk until combined.
- Pour egg mixture into the loaf pan, evenly pouring over all the ingredients.
- Top with green onions, then 1 cup of shredded cheese, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Once heated, bake the strata for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Slice and serve.
- If you wish to have a crispier strata, you can place the sliced pieces of strata on a baking sheet, and place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the edges of each pieces crisp up.
