Sunshine and Rainbows Breakfast Toast

VegetarianDairy-FreeLactose-freeBreakfastHealthy

Mar 13

Written By Claudia

Life might not be all sunshine and rainbows, but your breakfast certainly can be! With beautifully cooked sunny side up eggs and a rainbow of sautéed vegetables, this breakfast is not only a wholesome, healthy way to start your day but an absolutely delicious one too :)

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Egg and Sauteed Vegetable Open Breakfast Sandwich

Sunny side up egg with sauteed vegetables on avocado toast

This fantastic recipe makes use of a kaleidoscope of veggies - avocado, onion, tomato, mushroom, spinach and capsicum (a.k.a bell pepper), as well as egg and toasted bread.

That’s 5 different vegetables - already accomplished at breakfast!

And it tastes amazing :)

This recipe is also great for when you have a bunch of vegetables you want to make use of before they pass their prime. As with any recipe, it’s adaptable, so you can swap out any of these veggies for other ones you might prefer, or play around with the quanitites to your liking.

The reason I chose this combination of ingredients is because I find all of these flavours just work so well together. There’s the marvellous flavour of sauteed onions and mushrooms on a bed of baby spinach, topped with capsicum cooked just to soften but still left with a fresh and juicy bite, followed by sweet pan-roasted tomatoes to tie it all togehter. That served alongside your avocado-laden toast and finished with a perfectly seasoned sunny side up egg, is in my opinion, the ultimate savoury breakfast combo.

If you like, top it all off with some fresh herbs or even a sprinkle of cheese and you’ve got one spectacular, filling and bright dish to serve, packed full of colour, flavour, texture and nutrients.

If you’re feeling intimidated by words like sauté and pan-roasted…don’t be! These are techniques you can easily learn and master even as a beginner home cook. Just read on!

Oh and if you’ve never made eggs sunny side up before - check out my How To Make Perfect Sunny Side Up Eggs post for all the tips and tricks you need to know! :)

FUN FACT:

Since some nutrients are fat-soluble and need to be combined with fat in order to be utilised, the healthy fats in avocado can actually help you to better absorb other plant nutrients! :)

Plus avocadoes themselves are high in fibre, vitamin K, folate, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B5, vitamin B6 and vitamin E.

HOW DO YOU SAUTÉ VEGETABLES?

Sautéing vegetables basically just means cooking them in a small amount of oil at a high heat for a short time. Sautéing vegetables also involves stirring the ingredients frequently as they cook to make sure they brown evenly.

HOW DO YOU PAN-ROAST TOMATOES?

Lightly pan-roasting the tomatoes simply refers to placing the tomato wedges in a hot pan and allowing them to cook gently on one side before flipping and cooking on the other side. The tomatoes should cook until they have softened - but still hold their form - and are a little bit blackened here and there on each side.

They should still retain their almost all of their juices and you should be able to transfer them from the pan to the plate without them spilling out or falling apart.

FUN FACT:

Micro herbs aren’t just a pretty garnish. They are actually very nutrient dense and often contain higher levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than the same amount of mature vegetable greens.

WHAT ARE SUNNY SIDE UP EGGS?

Apart from sounding very optimistic, sunny side up eggs have a few other distinguishing features.

Eggs made sunny side up are eggs that are cooked only on one side before removing from the pan, ensuring the egg white is fully cooked through and set and the egg yolk remains runny when pierced.

For my 7 MUST-KNOW TIPS for perfectly frying an egg sunny side up, click here!

If you are cooking for young children, an elderly person, pregnant woman or someone with a compromised immune system, it’s best to substitute for a type of egg where the yolk and white are cooked all the way through e.g. over-hard eggs, hard scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, etc.

PRO TIP: For recipes that involve raw eggs (such as mayonnaise) or recipes where the egg yolk is only lightly cooked (such as sunny side up) make sure to use pasteurised eggs.

FUN FACT:

Just like meat, eggs are a complete protein, meaning they contain all nine essential amino acids.

Amino acids are necessary in everyone’s diet because the human body is incapable of producing them on it’s own and must get these amino acids from food…which is why they’re called “essential”.

RECIPE

Sunny side up egg and sauteed vegetables on avocado toast

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS BREAKFAST SANDWICH

Serves: 2

Recipe Time: 25 - 30 minutes

Difficulty: Medium / Beginner

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INGREDIENTS

2 - 4 pieces of the bread of your choice (I used a halved rustic bread roll but if you want to keep up the ultra-healthy vibes you can opt for wholegrain bread)
1 large avocado
1/2 tbsp + 2 tsps olive oil, divided
1 medium, brown or yellow onion
100g or 3.5oz (1/2 a small punnet) white button mushrooms, washed
1/2 a capsicum (a.k.a. bell pepper), washed
1 large tomato, washed
1/2 cup baby spinach, washed and dried(you can also use standard spinach if you prefer)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
GARNISH
A small bunch of micro herbs, rinsed and dried

METHOD

Prepare the vegetables:

Peel, halve and slice the onion.
Trim the stems of the mushrooms by cutting off the bottom 1/4 inch (half a cm) as this part can be tough, woody or dirty. Then slice the mushrooms.
Slice the capsicum (bell pepper) into short strips
Cut the tomato in eights, by cutting it in half to create 2 sides, then cutting each side in half again to create 4 quarters and then cutting each quarter in half again to create 8 tomato wedges.

Sauté the vegetables:

(IMPORTANT - Non-stick pans require different cooking instructions and heats. For example, non-stick pans cannot be heated dry and oil must be added to the cold pan - I am not experienced with cooking in non-stick pans so this is NOT a non-stick pan recipe)

Place a frypan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add about half a tablespoon of olive oil along with the onions for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, before adding the mushrooms. The mushrooms should release some water once added to the pan. Continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated, the onions have turned a golden brown hue and softened, and the mushrooms have darkened in colour and reduced a little in size, becoming tender (roughly another 3-5 minutes).
Remove the onions and mushrooms from the pan and add capsicum slices, sautéing untl they have softened but are still bright in colour, about 1 - 2 minutes.
Remove capsicum from the pan and place in tomato wedges, cooking for about 1 minute on each side or until they have softened (but still hold their form) and blackened just a little on each side. Remove the tomatoes from the pan.

Fry the eggs:

NOTE: If there is any burnt residue or stuck food bits from sautéing, quickly rinse and wipe your pan clean or use a fresh pan for the eggs.

Bring the dry pan to a medium-low heat.
Once the pan is hot, add either olive oil, butter or lard (about a teaspoon per egg) and swirl the pan a little to spread it around.
Add your egg(s) to the pan. Once the egg hits the hot pan and the grease it should start to set and begin turning from translucent to white in less than 20 seconds. At this point, cover with lid to allow the egg(s) to steam.
Once you have covered with the lid, you simply wait for the eggs to finish cooking. If making only one egg, allow it to cook for around a further 2 minutes, or until the egg white is completely set but the yolk will still be soft and runny when pierced.
If you are cooking multiple eggs together in the pan, depending on the size of your pan and how many you’re cooking, you will need to cook them for a little longer to ensure each egg white is completely set, around 3 - 5 minutes.

Avocado Toast:

While the egg is cooking, slice your bread if need be, and put it to toast lightly. Meanwhile, halve and deseed the avocado. Scoop out into a medium sized bowl and using the back of a fork, mash the avocado down to a spreadable but still chunky and textured consistency. Once the toast is ready, generously spread on the avocado and set aside.

Assemble Breakfast:

Using a spatula, remove the egg from the pan. Place a bed of baby spinach over the avocado laden toast, then top with the onions and mushrooms, capsicum, tomato and finally the sunny side up egg.
Season with salt and pepper and garnish with some micro-herbs if desired.