“Mama, is it the weekend yet?” She starts asking on Tuesday. The withdrawals from having everyone together two days prior hits. “Mama, when will daddy be home?” “After work, Hal,” I repeat. At three years old, she knows the value of weekends—when dad’s home indefinitely, when everyone’s home together. She’s always her happiest then. Me too.
On Friday, we start talking about what we’ll make for breakfast on Saturday, the only morning of the week we eat at the dinner table. It’s also the one morning of the week I sit. The rest of the week, I stand at the counter while they sit at the counter. I started the whole standing thing because I was still tending to my coffee, my morning lifeline. And now I’ve become the official water boy—for the water, the salt, the maple syrup, and everything else. And maybe the official martyr too. But on Saturdays, we make plans to sit together, beginning at breakfast.
Usually, we make something sweet, like pancakes, or waffles, or a dutch baby. One scroll through the breakfast section of this site and you’ll find all the sweet breakfast things. Because of that, I’m working on developing my savory breakfast palette. For my sake, the sake of the recipe page, but mostly for Kev’s sake, who regularly orders a savory breakfast when we go out.
New on the morning menu—this Smoky Breakfast Sandwich. Smoky from the paprika-laced chimichurri. I’m a little infatuated with chimichurri lately, so here’s one more. Don’t use it on this sandwich alone. It’s best on everything. On the weekends, we roast a steak of cauliflower because we have time. We skip the long restaurant lines and top it with the same fancy microgreens they’d use. Kev takes his egg sunny-side up; I take mine scrambled. And we sandwich it all between two slices of seedy whole-grain Dave’s Killer Bread. We eat it together. Right where Hal likes us. Me too.
Prepare the cauliflower steaks. Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Wash and dry the cauliflower. Pull off any leaves but leave the stem intact. With the head sitting upright, cut in half. Then make two more down cuts on each half, about an inch apart. You’ll be left with 4 cauliflower steaks. Carefully place on baking sheet. Depending on the cauliflower head, the steaks may fall apart. That’s ok. Drizzle liberally with oil and sprinkle with flaky kosher salt. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip. Then bake another 15 until lightly charred.
Meanwhile, prepare the chimichurri. This can be made a couple days in advance and stored in the fridge. In a small skillet, add 2 tablespoons of the oil, garlic, jalapeño, and salt. Cook on medium low for about 3 minutes to soften not brown. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining oil, water, chopped herbs, and paprika. Stir together and set aside. If making ahead of time, allow to sit for 10 minutes in the warmed pan before removing and storing for later use.
Assemble. Just before serving, lightly toast bread. Cook eggs sunny-side up or scrambled. I use this method to cook sunny-side eggs with this pan. Rinse and dry microgreens. On one piece of toasted bread, top with a cauliflower steak, microgreens, egg, chimichurri, and another piece of bread. Serve immediately.
Notes
*If jalapeños are too spicy for your palette, opt for a milder pepper.
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I love that the whole sandwich can come together in the time it takes the cauliflower to roast — I’m all about efficiency on weekend mornings, trying to eat before I get ‘hangry’. That smoky chimichurri sounds delicious. I’m thinking it would be delicious drizzled on just about anything!
Oh I feel you Hal, I want it to be the weekend already too! I’ve got sweet breakfast covered, but savory is still one that I’m trying to nail down. I also don’t use chimichurri enough, so this is going on the to-make list 🙂
I’m hyponotized by your GIF. Nice idea for breakfast…I’m gonna make this soon!
I love that the whole sandwich can come together in the time it takes the cauliflower to roast — I’m all about efficiency on weekend mornings, trying to eat before I get ‘hangry’. That smoky chimichurri sounds delicious. I’m thinking it would be delicious drizzled on just about anything!
I like weekends. And I really like savory breakfast sandwiches. This sauce sounds amazing!
Ahhh, the weekends…The best (and quickest) two days of the week. I’m all about the savory breakfast, so this guy is definitely up my alley.
Oh I feel you Hal, I want it to be the weekend already too! I’ve got sweet breakfast covered, but savory is still one that I’m trying to nail down. I also don’t use chimichurri enough, so this is going on the to-make list 🙂