Vegetable Breakfast Hash with Fried Bread Croutons

This breakfast just kind of happened at one of the last weekends. It's a beautiful chance marriage of ingredients that I threw together after a quick kitchen raid. I felt like having a fry-up, but did not want to eat meat, did not have beans, had only the butt end of a loaf of bread left, and definitely did not want to change out of my PJs to go to the shop. What I ended up with was way more interesting to eat than a greasy plate of eggs, sausages and bacon (although that also has its merits) and was probably even a tad healthier. A tiny tad. 

I liked this dish a lot, if I say so myself, and wrote down the super-simple recipe so I'd be able to make it again. The vegetables are only suggestions here, you could substitute any other varieties you have at hand (mushrooms, green beans, peas, tomatoes, kale, celery, broccoli, you get the gist).

EASY BREAKFAST HASH (serves 2)

NEED:

glug of olive oil

1 thick slice of bread (brioche, or any other soft bread), cubed

1/2 red onion, roughly diced

1 red pepper, roughly diced

1 small eggplant, cubed

1 small zucchini, cubed

1 generous handful fesh spinach

1 handful fresh basil, chopped

salt

pepper

2 eggs

DO:

Heat the olive oil in a deep pan and turn heat down to medium. Fry bread cubes until they are golden brown on each side, but be careful: if the pan is too hot, they will burn easily. Set fried bread aside on a plate lined with kitchen towel.

Add more oil to the pan if necessary, and fry onion until it starts looking translucent. Add diced pepper and stir-fry until that starts too soften, about 5 minutes. Add eggplant and zucchini and stir-fry for another few minutes, until all the vegetables are almost at the point of softness you like them to be. Stir in the spinach and basil, season to taste.

Clear two little spaces in your vegetable hash, so you can see the bottom of the pan. They should be the size of fried eggs. Crack one egg into each space. Turn the heat down low and cook until the eggs are set. It helps if you have a lid to cover the pan with for two minutes or so. If you do not like your eggs sunny side up, you can also fry them in a different pan to a finish of your liking.

When the eggs are done, add the fried bread back to the pan and serve it all up.

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).